The International Monetary Fund is following developments in Greece closely and stands ready to help, but there's been no request for aid from the euro-zone country, an IMF official said Thursday.

"We remain ready to assist Greece if asked by the Greek authorities," Gerry Rice, deputy head of external relations at the IMF, said during a regular briefing with the press. "We have not been asked."

Greece plans to raise up to $10 billion in the coming weeks even though officials say they are frustrated that the country's borrowing costs haven't fallen after the recent rescue pledge by its fellow European nations and the IMF.

Last week's reassurance by the European Union that the bloc wouldn't let Greece default was meant to lower the amount of interest Greece would have to offer to attract the funding it desperately needs.

A week later, that hasn't happened, raising expectations that the EU, together with the IMF, will need to step in to bail out Greece . Yet it is unclear how much further Greece 's financial position has to deteriorate before the EU would agree to intervene.

Rice didn't provide much detail on how any rescue mechanism would be shared by the EU and the IMF, saying only that the IMF would consult with both Greek and EU authorities.

Turning to Iceland , the official said the IMF staff's preliminary judgment on the country's second review, which could potentially release key aid, was positive. But he added that this view now needs to be shared by the IMF's executive board.

Rice said IMF staff would be working with authorities in Iceland in the coming days, but declined to say whether an IMF mission would be traveling to the country.
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