Papandreou in Washington

Coming out of a meeting at the White House on Tuesday, Papandreou said he received a "positive response" from Obama on the issue of curbing credit-default swaps and other speculative financial instruments, which he blames for worsening Greece's debt crisis.

Preventing harmful financial speculation will also be on the agenda at the next meeting of G20 nations in June, he added. Speaking to reporters on Monday, Papandreou stressed the importance of reining in speculation.

"Europe and America must say 'enough is enough' to those speculators who only place value on immediate returns, with utter disregard for the consequences on the larger economic system – not to mention the human consequences of lost jobs, foreclosed homes and decimated pensions," he said.

Meanwhile a White House statement made no mention of bringing a plan to curb speculation to the G20.

"The central task before the Greek government is to continue to move forward on their plans to restore fiscal stability and growth to its economy," a US official told reporters.

Bailout speculation

Papandreou's Washington visit followed trips to Germany and France in a tour meant to regain investor confidence.

There has been much buzz in the media that Greece may need a bailout from a foreign government, particularly Germany, the European Union's largest economy. But Papandreou told reporters he has never asked for financial help from the US or any other country.

"What we are doing is first of all revamping our own economy," he said Tuesday. "That has been recognized and hailed by many leaders. We are doing our job."

Greek Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou visited the International Monetary Fund in Washington on Monday to discuss the potential need for an IMF loan. He also told CNBC television that Greece needed cheaper borrowing options, as the country was recently forced to offer six percent interest rates on bonds to attract investors.

Transatlantic action

European officials joined in Greece's call for an end to credit-default swaps, a kind of insurance against a default, saying speculators have used them to profit off the possibility of Greece failing to pay its debts. German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday called on the US to "make a gesture" in ending the practice.

The European Commission on Tuesday said it would consider banning so-called "naked selling" of credit default swaps - when the buyer does not actually own the government bonds it is buying insurance against.

Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said the EU should tackle naked selling in a coordinated way, signaling a wish to not repeat what happened in 2008 when several EU states acted unilaterally in banning short-selling of bank shares, resulting in confused markets.

Germany, France and Eurogroup President Jean-Claude Juncker have voiced support for the naked-selling ban, but the UK, where most credit default swaps are sold in the EU, hasn't publicly backed the idea.

acb/AFP/AP/Reuters
Editor: Jennifer Abramsohn