Germany's finance minister Wolfgang Schaueble denied that the country has started preparations for a Greece exit from the euro zone, ahead of a key election in the turbulent Mediterranean country on Sunday.
"We did whatever could be done to support Greece in difficult times, again and again," Schaueble told a CNBC panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
"We had to convince the IMF to make very extraordinary conditions so that we could support this," he said of the frantic discussions between International Monetary fund and European Union authorities around the $147 billion bailout of Greece in 2010.
"There were endless discussions."
Now, talk among commentators and politicians in Germany suggests the government is more open to the idea of a Greek exit from the single currency region -- even though Chancellor Angela Merkel and other senior politicians still want it to stay.
"We don't need any problems," Schaueble said.
"We will wait on the elections in Greece."
Read More All Greek to me: What could happen in weekend vote
The possibility of a Greek exit from the euro zone, if left-wing Syriza, which campaigns on an anti-austerity platform, gains power next week, is only one of many potential political events which could cause turmoil in markets this year.
"Most of the disturbing things today that can go wrong are political," legendary investor George Soros warned in Davos.
- By CNBC's Catherine Boyle in Davos, Switzerland.
