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UPDATE 1-ECB's Provopoulos-Greece ready for extra measures

Published 02/22/2010, 06:10 AM
Updated 02/23/2010, 09:46 AM

* Greece ready for corrective action

* Provopoulos says markets overreacting to Greek woes

* ECB will continue supporting the banking system

(Adds quotes, background)

ATHENS, Feb 22 (Reuters) - Greece's central banker said on Monday the country was prepared to take extra fiscal measures to make sure it meets its deficit-cutting targets, but he said financial markets were over-reacting to its financial woes.

"Even if some risks materialise -- like growth -- the government is prepared to take immediate corrective action," George Provopoulos, also a member of the European Central Bank's Governing Council, told Bloomberg in an interview.

"The government has said already on several occasions that it will take any additional measures required in order to achieve its goal," Provopoulos was quoted as saying.

Greece has pledged to reduce its budget deficit by 4 percentage points to 8.7 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2010. Spreads of Greek government-bond yields over German bunds have surged since October.

Speaking about the way financial markets were reacting, Provopoulos was quoted as saying: "They take advantage of the weak link to make profits."

"It's clear that there is a certain degree of overshooting. Given the high degree of uncertainty in the markets, one should not expect that the situation will normalise overnight."

Provopoulos said the ECB would continue extending support to the banking system. "The ECB never said we have reached the end of the road."

Signs of normalisation in the credit markets will be taken into account when the ECB's Governing Council meets in March to discuss its exit strategy from emergency lending measures, the Greek central banker said. (Reporting by Harry Papachristou; editing by Stephen Nisbet)

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