Eurozone Must Expand Rather Than Contract - Lithuanian Finance Minister

The Eurozone should expand, not contract, Lithuanian Finance Minister Rimantas Sadzius said on Tuesday.

MOSCOW, July 7 (Sputnik) — Lithuania does not consider Greek exit from the Eurozone an option, the minister said.

“This [Grexit] is not the option for us, Lithuanian government strives to get a deal, an agreement with our partners in the Eurozone, we are newcomers to the Eurozone, we believe that the Eurozone should expand rather than contract, so our basis scenario is to let Greece remain in the Eurozone,” Sadzius said arriving at a Eurogroup meeting.

Sadzius' statement came ahead of a Eurogroup meeting and Eurozone nations' summit, set to take place later in the day aiming to find a solution to the Greek debt crisis.

Athens' failure to reach an agreement with its international creditors on a new bailout program before the previous aid package expired on June 30 fueled speculation that the country might leave the eurozone.

Greece owes about $270 billion to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the European Central Bank, and some eurozone nations.

On June 30, Athens defaulted on a $1.7-billion loan repayment to the IMF.