Asian forex market

Greece has moved closer to securing emergency funding before debt payments become due in mid May as finance minister George Papaconstantinou warned investors they will "lose their shirts" if they bet that the nation will default.

The euro stabilized in the Asian forex market early this morning after the Greek finance minister said the aid would arrive in time to avert what would be the euro zone's first sovereign debt default, although there are increasing indications that the 45 billion euro rescue package may not be large enough.

The euro was steady at around $1.3375 after a short-covering rebound on Friday. It fell as far as $1.3201 in the previous session, its lowest since April 2009, but it recovered as Greece sought to activate the financial aid package. Against the yen, the euro edged up 0.2% to 126.00 yen, having risen 1% on Friday.

Greece has 8.5 billion euro's worth of bonds maturing on the 19th of May so any delay in receiving financial aid could trigger another sell off of assets and hurt global markets. Greece's debt which totals 115% of GDP as well as a budget deficit of almost 14% has led to major concerns among investors.

The debt crisis has dominated the agenda at the weekends G-20 meetings in Washington. Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty told reporters that some in the G-20 worry the plan now being crafted is "not enough" and want to ensure any rescue is a "one-time event."