GREEK Prime Minister George Papandreou said Monday that the United States would not be a mere bystander if his country's debt crisis were to worsen.
In a speech at the Brookings Institution, a liberal think-tank, Papandreou said that a wider crisis would cause the euro to weaken against the dollar in foreign-exchange trading.
"That, in turn, means a rising U.S. trade deficit, which will not help American's economy rebound," he said.
"The consequences would be palpable," Papandreou said.
Papandreou will meet President Barack Obama on Tuesday afternoon. Papandreou said he would discuss with Obama "the important role I believe the United States can play to ensure that Greece, Europe, and America remain strong."
A spokesman for the Greek embassy said the prime minister had no plans to meet officials of the International Monetary Fund.
Papandreou is on a tour of major capitals to discuss the Greek debt crisis. Since late last year, fears of a sovereign default by Greece have roiled European financial markets, pressured the euro and even raised questions about the long-term viability of European economic and monetary union.
Papandreou met with German Chancellor Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy in the past few days.
Further signs of European support for Greece emerged from these discussions.
Sarkozy said that a number of countries were ready to rescue the nation if necessary.
Papandreou emphasized again in his Washington speech that Greece hasn't requested a bailout.
In another development over the weekend, top finance officials of the euro zone indicated they are mulling creating a European fund modeled on the International Monetary Fund.
The Greek government last week approved a range of additional austerity measures as it aims to slash its budget deficit from 12.7 percent of gross domestic product -- more than four times the E.U. limit -- in 2009 to less than 3 percent by 2012. Greece last week successfully sold 5 billion euros worth of 10-year government bonds.
Papandreou urged U.S. financial regulators to continue their probe into trading of credit default swaps to bet on a Greek default on Wall Street.
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