German Chancellor Angela Merkel has suggested that Greece holds a referendum over its membership of the European single currency, according to a Greek government spokesman.
According to Greek officials Merkel suggested that the vote be included in Greece's latest set of national elections, to be held in June after the political stalemate reached following a vote earlier this month.
Merkel apparently suggested the idea during a phone call with the Greek president on Friday.
But that was later denied by a German government spokesman.
Meanwhile the US president, Barack Obama, and the new president Francois Hollande met in Washington for talks on the economy, ahead of a G8 summit.
The eurozone storm showed no signs of clearing on Friday as fears over Spain and Greece saw £80bn wiped from the value of London's leading shares index in just one week.
The euphoria around the highly-anticipated Facebook flotation was not enough to lift traders in London, where the FTSE 100 Index closed more than 1% lower at 5267.6.
The top flight has lost more than 5% in one week, its biggest weekly fall since August and hitting its lowest level since November.
Greece, which some fear will have to exit the euro if an anti-austerity party is elected in June, was also hit with a downgrade from ratings agency Fitch.
The "heightened risk" that the political and economic crisis could drag the country out of the single currency prompted the move, Fitch said.
Michael Hewson, analyst at CMC Markets, said: "Concerns remain about the fragility of the banking system across Europe overall, as concerns grow about further downgrades if contagion ripples spread."
More to follow.