FRANKFURT (MNI) - The danger of contagion in the eurozone stemming from the Greek fiscal crisis is something that must be taken seriously, though it is "not founded on economic reality," European Central Bank Governing Council member Ewald Nowotny said Tuesday.

"For instance, the Greek debt situation is quite substantially different from the one in Portugal and Spain," Nowotny, who heads the Austrian National Bank, told the Financial Times in an interview published online. "The situation in Portugal and Spain is much better compared to Greece," he added. The comparison "is not, let's say justified."

On the other hand, "if you look at the numbers," the UK is in much greater danger of being hit by potential contagion, Nowotny continued.

Nowotny stressed that the euro has been helpful to Greece, allowing the country to benefit from low interest rates. Nevertheless, it's up to the Greek authorities to restore discipline and solve their own problems, Nowotny said.

"One of the big problems with Greece is that obviously they do have a credibility problem after the statistics and all this kind of thing," Nowotny said.

He listed a number of factors behind the Greek situation, including a lack of stable fiscal policies and competitiveness.

"And all of this, of course, has been aggravated by the economic crisis," Nowotny continued.

"It has two sides, let's say the terminal side and it has also the external side, where there's still the effect of the economic crisis. So I think there will be a number of measures that will have to be taken, but the prime responsibility now clearly rests with the Greek authorities," he added.

Nowotny also stressed the ECB's "clear no bail-out clause", which prevents the central bank from intervening to rescue Greece from potential default.

"Whether there are some interventions from the side of individual countries, let's say bilateral or some kind of concerted action, this is a political decision," Nowotny said. "But it's not, with regards to the ECB."

Turning to exchange rates, the central banker said that the ECB has no exchange rate goal, but that there was "no specific matter of concern" with regard to the current exchange rate, noting that it had fluctuated between $1.00 and $1.50.

"What we are interested in of course is to avoid abrupt developments."