In a letter to the European Union, the European Central Bank and the IMF, Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou proposed discussions on "a multi-year program of economic policies."

He said this "could be supported with financial assistance from the euro-area member states and the IMF, if the Greek authorities were to decide to request such assistance."

The IMF announced it would send a team to Athens on Monday, which a Greek government official said would be accompanied by teams from the European Commission and the ECB.

Greek and IMF officials stressed that Greece, struggling to finance a national debt greater than its annual economic output, had still not decided whether to apply to activate an emergency aid mechanism announced by euro zone governments last Sunday.

But IMF spokeswoman Caroline Atkinson said the IMF team would focus on Greek policies that could form a basis for loans.

"When we're discussing with them the policies that could form the basis, at a certain point that could mutate into a discussion for the (financial) arrangement," she said. She added the IMF could work quickly, but declined to give a timeframe.

Under the aid mechanism, euro zone governments would lend Greece up to 30 billion euros in the initial year and the IMF would provide more money, perhaps 10 billion euros or more, in what could be the biggest international bailout ever attempted.

Analysts said Greece, which is being forced to pay sky-high borrowing rates in the markets and will need to refinance 8.5 billion euros of bonds maturing in May, appeared to be inching toward seeking emergency loans.

"The fact that they are asking for clarification on various issues about the mechanism suggests that they are seriously considering activating the package," said Ben May, an economist at Capital Economics in London.

At a cabinet meeting, Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou said his country's debt crisis "has created psychological terrorism in our economy and among Greek citizens and we have to deal with that. We must ensure safety and confidence."

News of the request for talks halted a slide in Greek asset prices on Thursday.

Greek bank stocks jumped more than 4 percent and the spread of the 10-year Greek government bond yield over German Bunds fell back to 4.07 percentage points, flat on the day, from an earlier level of 4.35 points. It was still not far from the record high during the crisis of 4.63 points, hit last week.

The markets know that even if Greece does obtain emergency aid, it may still face several years of economic pain and instability as austerity measures worsen its deep recession.

Euro zone governments have said they would extend three-year emergency loans at a rate of about 5.0 percent, cheaper than the current yield of 7.0 percent on Greek three-year bonds. Atkinson said any IMF aid to Greece beyond roughly 3 billion euros would carry an interest charge of 3.26 percent." Strict conditions for Greece to slash its budget deficit over several years would be attached to the loans.