FXstreet.com (Barcelona) - Oliver Blanchard, chief economist at the International Monetary Fund, insisted in an interview published Wednesday that the EU should prepare a plan for Italy and Spain which would include a guarantee for them to fund themselves on the market, as long as they implement the necessary reforms.

"In the short term, it is a fundamental that there is a plan for these two (Eurozone) periphery countries," Blanchard said, urging Rome and Madrid to ask for aid.

For the moment Italy has rejected the idea, while Spain remains in limbo and it is possible that the country's government will submit an official bailout request in the coming weeks.