Chancellor Angela Merkel hosts President Francois Hollande today as officials look for ways to stave off an immediate crisis after a report due next month from Greece's international creditors on the health of its finances.

Options raised in Germany in recent days include front- loading aid payments to Greece to help it over liquidity hurdles; lowering the interest rate or extending maturities on loans; and pushing for a second debt writedown, this time focusing on bonds held by public institutions, notably the European Central Bank.

With the leaders of Europe's two biggest economies still at the confidence-building stage, Merkel and Hollande are seeking common ground on Greece and the wider euro-area debt crisis almost three years after its inception. While Merkel publicly stresses meeting targets, France sees them as too harsh given the state of the Greek economy, a French government official said on condition of anonymity because the talks are private. Merkel and Hollande will give statements at 7 p.m. in Berlin.