Greece ? A key Greek economic official expressed confidence Sunday that his country will be able to secure billions of dollars in emergency loans from European countries and the International Monetary Fund to avoid a crippling debt default.

Greek Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou also had a blunt message for market speculators betting against Greece: “They will lose their shirts.”

Papaconstantinou called a “red herring” market speculation that Greece may still have to default on some of its debt, forcing investors to accept less than full repayment on the Greek bonds they are holding. He said any such restructuring of Greek debt was “off the table.”

His comments capped a difficult week in which Greece was forced to formally request assistance on Friday from other European nations and the International Monetary Fund after months of saying it would be able to weather its debt crisis using its own resources.