Valdis Dombrovskis

By Ian Wishart

Investors should take confidence from signals that the Greek government is planning to request an extension to its country?s bailout loan agreement, European Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis said.

The European Commission sees "worrying tendencies" in Greece's economic and financial situation, a senior Commissioner said on Wednesday.

"We see that the economic and financial situation is not yet getting better, we see some worrying tendencies," said Valdis Dombrovskis, vice president for the euro and social dialogue.

By Jan Strupczewski & Paul Taylor

Greece can choose how to make its public finances healthy and its economy grow, but it must extend its bailout program by a few months to gain time to negotiate those steps, European Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis said.

The European Commission proposed to make 1 billion euro from the Youth Employment Initiative available as early as this year. This change will increase by up to 30 times the pre-financing Member States receive to boost youth employment - reaching up to 650,000 young people and helping them get into work, faster.

Greece is confident that its representative on the new European Commission, Dimitris Avramopoulos, will take over a newly created post that will include the immigration, human rights and interior portfolios.