STRASBOURG (AFP) - There is no need for the International Monetary Fund to help Greece out of its economic crisis as Europe can handle the problem, EU Economic Affairs Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said Tuesday.

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"We don't need to call in the IMF," he told the European parliament in Strasbourg.

"We are all members of the IMF of course but we can and should do this by ourselves," Almunia insisted.

"If we have appropriate levels of coordination, if we've got political commitment, if we use the instruments that we have available ... we do have more than enough instruments to do what's needed," he said.

But Swedish Finance Minister Anders Borg maintained that discussion of an IMF role in resolving Greece's debt crisis should not be ruled out.

Speaking in Paris after meeting with French counterpart Christine Lagarde, Borg said "discussing the role for the IMF in dealing with the situation shouldn't be taboo," one of his spokeswomen told AFP.

"Greece has taken a first step toward restoring public finances and rebuilding market confidence but much more remains before confidence is restored," he told Sweden-based journalists in a telephone conference.

The IMF said last week that a Greek government austerity package aimed at restoring the country's financial health was "appropriate."

The measures include a public salary freeze, an increase in petrol taxes and a hike in the retirement age.

Greece's under-fire Socialist government is struggling to slash a debt mountain expected to hit over 290 billion euros (396 billion dollars) this year.

It said Tuesday it would raise the average rate of retirement by two years to 63 by 2015 as part of a series of measures to clean up its heavily indebted public sector.

The moves are aimed at taming the country's massive debt and a runaway public deficit of 12.7 percent, which have shaken the euro and put pressure on Greek sovereign bonds.

Almunia stressed there was "clear support" for Greece among the other 26 EU nations.

However he cautioned that "you don't get support for free" but "in exchange for clear commitment (by the Greek authorities) ... that they will meet their responsibilities."

The 27 EU heads of state and government will meet in Brussels Thursday for a crisis summit, with Greece's deficit woes to the fore.