The International Monetary Fund is ready to contribute financing for Greece through a multi-year stand-by loan arrangement and will hold talks on the matter in Brussels on April 12, IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said on Sunday.

He said an earlier announcement by euro zone member countries to provide debt-strapped Greece with emergency financing if needed marked an important step and will also safeguard financial stability in the euro area as a whole.

The IMF stands ready to join the effort, including through a multi-year stand-by arrangement, to the extent needed and requested by the Greek authorities, Strauss-Kahn said in a statement. An IMF team will hold discussions in Brussels on April 12 with the Greek authorities, the European Commission and the ECB.

Euro zone finance ministers earlier agreed on a giant 30 billion euro ($40 billion) emergency aid package for Greece but stressed that Athens had not asked for the plan to be activated yet.

(Reporting by Lesley Wroughton; editing by Gunna Dickson)

United nations International Monetary Fund