Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou was in Berlin yesterday to attend the Economist’s "Euro Zone Dialogue" on the future of the euro currency. In his speech, Papaconstantinou stressed that the contraction in Greece's GDP during 2010 may be less than the original forecast of 4 %.

"We see encouraging signs in significant economic indexes, allowing us to believe that economic downturn will be lower than predicted," Papaconstantinou said.

In Berlin, Papaconstantinou also met his German counterpart Wolfgang Schäuble. Later, he traveled to Frankfurt where he held a meeting with European Central Bank President, Jean-Claude Trichet.