Greece says is confident, market turmoil not based on fundamentals

ATHENS (Reuters) - Market turmoil in recent days does not reflect the fundamentals of Greece's economy or its prospects, Finance Minister Gikas Hardouvelis told parliament on Thursday, saying he was confident the country would follow through on its pledges. He was speaking after a dramatic slide in Greek stocks and bonds over the past three days that have pushed 10-year bond yields close to 9 percent, their highest level since January. "I believe that we can make it. If we stay calm, if we are focused on our targets, if we have the widest possible political consensus, we can exit the crisis, a lot faster than expected, " Hardouvelis said. "Those monitoring markets know that very often they are nervous, excessive in their reactions." He said the country was on track to complete its fiscal consolidation program in accordance with targets laid out by EU/IMF lenders and would speed up reforms in the coming months. He said Athens, as expected was talking to its lenders about finding a solution for its debt mountain and that it had the support of the European Central Bank on that. (Reporting by Lefteris Papadimas, Writing by Deepa Babington)