IN BRIEF (Page 17)

Greek bailout speculation

Greece rejected speculation that it will need a bailout to tackle the European Union's biggest budget deficit as officials flew in from Brussels to scrutinize tax and spending plans.

"We don't expect to be bailed out by anybody as, I think, is perfectly clear we're doing what needs to be done to bring the deficit down and control the public debt," Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou said. Papaconstantinou is trying to buttress confidence in Greece's fiscal plans after the ballooning budget deficit last month triggered a sell-off of the country's bonds.