German Chancellor Angela Merkel suggested a Greek referendum over whether Greece should remain a member of the eurozone during a phone call with Greek President Karolos Papoulias on Friday, the Greek government said.

"The German Chancellor conveyed to the president thoughts about the conduction of a referendum, in parallel with the general elections, over whether Greek people wish a stay in the eurozone," said a press statement issued by the new Greek government spokesman Dimitris Tsiodras.

"But it is obvious that the issue is above the responsibilities of a caretaker government," said the statement.

However, a spokeswoman for Merkel denied afterwards that she had ever made the suggestion.

"The information reported that the chancellor had suggested a referendum to the Greek President Carolos Papoulias is wrong," said the spokeswoman.

Earlier on Friday, the Greek presidency said Papoulias had held a telephone conversation with Merkel, who expressed Germany's and the European Union's solidarity with Greece for its efforts to overcome the severe debt crisis, ahead of the upcoming EU summit in Brussels on May 23.

"The Chancellor noted that European Union intends to examine a boost to development policies to tackle unemployment across Europe," added the press release.

Greece is expected to go to a second round of polls on June 17, to resolve the political deadlock created after the May 6 national polls that produced a parliament divided between pro-reform and anti-bailout parties.

A caretaker government led by a senior judge was sworn in on Thursday with the sole responsibility of leading the country to the ballots, after the dissolution of the assembly and official call of the elections, which are expected on Saturday, according to the latest information from state sources.

The political uncertainty has deepened fears that a new inconclusive result in June or the further rise of anti-bailout political forces could jeopardize two-year efforts to avoid a disorderly bankruptcy and the future of the country's membership in the eurozone.

In first reactions to Merkel's reference to a referendum in June, media commentators on local television channels stressed that the idea of a Greek referendum first raised by Greek former Prime Minister George Papandreou last November had sparked uproar in Greece and internationally over fears of the result.

Papandreou had suggested a referendum on the second bailout agreement with EU and International Monetary Fund lenders that contains fresh austerity and reform measures in exchange of multi-billion-euro loans to avoid a Greek default.

The idea raised fears that it would amount to a referendum on the euro and could lead to a Greek exit from the eurozone and a chaotic bankruptcy that would hit hard the international financial system.

The referendum was never held, Papandreou stepped down and made way for an interim coalition government that finalized the bailout deal and led Greece to the polls in May.

Even though a wide majority of Greek voters boosted anti-austerity and anti-bailout parties in the recent polls, all opinion surveys show that approximately eight out of 10 respondents strongly support Greece's stay in the eurozone.

Even parties with fierce rhetoric against austerity and the harsh terms of the bailout agreements signed since May 2010 reject the dilemma of "euro against drachma."

In first reactions to Merkel's suggestion, left parties, such as the Greek Communist party (KKE), and political analysts in Athens talked about mounting pressure from other European countries on Greece ahead of the new elections to vote for pro-bailout parties. In a statement, KKE called it a "blackmail."

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