Forexpros – The euro was down against the yen on Monday, trading close to a 10-year low as concerns over a sovereign default by Greece escalated after warnings from European finance ministers over the weekend. EUR/JPY hit 104.60 during European afternoon trade, the pair’s lowest since last Wednesday; the pair subsequently consolidated at 104.63, falling 1.26%. The pair was likely to find support at 103.91, the low of September 12 and a 10-year low and resistance at 106.56, Friday’s high. At a weekend meeting of European Union finance ministers in Poland, ministers warned that Greece may not receive the EUR8 billion tranche of aid due next month if the government fails to meet deficit reduction targets. Following the warnings, Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou canceled a planned visit to the U.S. in order to hold crisis budget talks at home. The warnings have fuelled speculation that a Greek debt default could be imminent. Later in the day, officials from the EU and the International Monetary Fund were to hold a teleconference with Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos to discuss extra steps to ensure Athens can qualify for its next tranche of rescue funds. Ahead of the talks, Greece’s finance minister said the country will announce the closure of several state-linked organizations this week and make further spending cuts in its 2012 budget. The euro was also sharply lower against the U.S. dollar, with EUR/USD tumbling 1.13% to hit 1.3643. Also Monday, in Washington U.S. President Barack Obama was to outline his plan to reduce the federal budget deficit by more than USD3 trillion over the next 10 years.

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