Greece rules out early election

ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece's state minister on Wednesday ruled out that the leftist government was considering an early election.

Speculation has been rife in recent days that Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras's cash-strapped government may call snap polls if it does not reach a deal on reforms with its European Union and IMF lenders that will unlock further aid under its bailout.

"There is no point in calling elections," Alekos Flabouraris told Greek TV. "They took place two months ago, we received a specific mandate which we will serve. We do not need elections, I rule it out 100 percent," he said.

(Reporting by Karolina Tagaris; Editing by Janet Lawrence)