国际英语新闻：Greece rattles markets as Spain downgraded

Greek and European Commission officials have said the first tranche of aid will be paid before May 19, when Athens will need to refinance a maturing 8.5 billion euro 10-year bond.

But the markets are not convinced that governments have the political will to reach and sustain an agreement on the aid, especially in Germany, Europe's biggest economy. The joint European Union-IMF package would require Germany to stump up the biggest individual loan to Greece, which met with strong opposition from the public.

"Why do we have to pay for Greece's luxury pensions?" Germany's biggest-selling tabloid newspaper, Bild Zeitung, asked on its front page Tuesday. Almost 60 percent of Germans polled don't want to help Greece, Die Welt newspaper reported, citing a survey of 1,009 people.

The heads of the IMF, the European Central Bank and other financial institutions were due to meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who faces a crucial state election May 9.

Markets will be watching the meeting for a positive signal. German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble has insisted Germany will not let Greece fail, the AP reported.

IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn told German policy makers the aid package for debt-crippled Greece would be worth between 100 and 120 billion euros over three years, against the 45 billion euros pledged to date, Reuters reported.