BERLIN (MNI) - The spokesman for Germany's coalition government has denied that Berlin is close to unveiling a plan for financial aid to fiscally-troubled Greece.

The spokesman, Ulrich Wilhelm, rejected earlier reports that a Greece package was nearly a done deal, calling them "incorrect."

Earlier this evening the Financial Times Deutschland as well as some financial wire services reported that the German government is preparing a rescue package for Greece, citing sources close to the ruling coalition.

The FTD report said the rescue package could include bilateral aid as well as internationally agreed action at the European Union level. It also said that Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble would inform the leadership of his party about details of the plan on Wednesday.

The paper cited its sources as saying that a European solution is sought but aid from Germany alone is not excluded.

The deputy parliamentary leader of the Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union group, Michael Meister, confirmed to the FTD that a rescue package is being worked on in Berlin, but insisted there would be strings attached.

"If Greece obtains help, then only under strict conditions and only if the Greek government drastically reforms the state," he remarked.

Wilhelm, the government spokesman, didn't say one way or the other whether a plan was being worked on - just that no decision on it was close at hand.

However, Handelsblatt reported Wilhelm as saying that a solution to the Greek problem "now depends on the government in Athens itself solving its budget problems sustainably."

The FTD report is similar to a Reuters story citing sources close to the government saying that "the decision to help Greece has practically been made."

Markets have been on edge all day after it was reported that European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet left a conference in Australia ahead of schedule to be in Brussels on Thursday for a special EU summit meeting.

This has reinforced expectations that some form of bailout for Greece will be discussed and perhaps agreed at the summit.