BERLIN, March 17 (Xinhua) - The 16-nation euro zone should be able to expel countries that violate its rules, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said here Wednesday.

“In the future, we need an agreement that would make it possible, as a last resort, to exclude a country from the euro zone if it persistently does not fulfill the required conditions,” Merkel said in a speech to the Bundestag, or German parliament.
Western media have discussed earlier whether Greece, which currently has huge public deficits of up to 12.7 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), would be removed from the euro club due to its breaking EU's Stability and Growth Pact, which requires its member nation's debt not to exceed 3 percent of GDP.
However, many EU country leaders, including Merkel, dismissed the speculation later.
On Monday, EU 27 finance ministers agreed in Brussels to prepare “emergency loans” to help Greece if its budget-cut plan failed, with a view to “stabilize the entire euro zone economy”