Chancellor Angela Merkel told officials in her coalition calling for a Greek exit from the euro to "weigh their words," as she signaled a renewed determination to keep the single currency intact.

Asked about comments by a party leader calling for Greece to leave the 17-nation currency, Merkel told ARD television that such comments were damaging as crisis fighting reaches a "decisive phase." Alexander Dobrindt, general secretary of the governing Bavarian Christian Social Union, told Bild newspaper that Greece wouldn't be part of the euro in 2013.

"Everybody should weigh their words very carefully," Merkel told ARD yesterday in Berlin. The Greek government under Prime Minister Antonis Samaras is undertaking "serious efforts" to reduce its debt, she said, and reiterated Germany's desire to stand by the country where the crisis originated.