AFP - Europe needs an institution similar to the International Monetary Fund to combat situations such as the Greek fiscal crisis, Germany's finance minister was quoted as saying Sunday.

"We're not planning an institution that would compete with the IMF, but for the internal stability of the eurozone, we need an institution that has the experience and power of the IMF," Wolfgang Schaeuble told the Welt am Sonntag.

"We should calmly discuss the consequences of the Greece crisis and should not rule anything out, even the creation of a European Monetary Fund," he said.

"I will shortly be making proposals on this topic," added the minister.

Moreover, Schaeuble said the 16 countries that share the euro would prefer to deal with the Greek debt crisis without resorting to aid from the IMF.

"Taking financial help from the IMF would, in my opinion, be an admission that the euro countries could not solve their problems with their own resources," he said.

Weighed down by a deficit over four times the EU's limit, Greece has initiated a raft of austerity measures, including sweeping tax hikes and deep cuts in public spending.

The emergency action has sparked protests and nationwide strikes that have affected air and ground transport, as well as schools and hospitals.

On an international level, the crisis has weighed heavily on the value of the common currency, the euro, on the financial markets.

"We should not allow our common European currency to become a football for international speculators," Schaeuble said.