Prime Minister George Papandreou requested the 45 billion euro (38.96 billion pound) package after a months-long selloff by investors pushed borrowing costs to record levels and undermined Athens' efforts to cut its 300 billion euro debt pile. "This is the moment. The time that was not granted to us by the markets will be given to us by the support of the euro zone," Papandreou said in a statement broadcast live from the remote, tiny Aegean island of Kastellorizo. "It is a national and imperative need to officially ask our partners in the EU for the activation of the support mechanism we jointly created." European markets rallied briefly on the announcement but investors said the long-awaited bailout, which could be the largest multilateral rescue of a country ever attempted, would only provide a short-term solution to Greece's debt crisis. After an initial bounce, the euro was a just touch higher at $1.3308 at 12:40 p.m. British time, up 0.1 percent on the day.