Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou has ruled out calling an early general election, saying his government will continue its work to pull the country out of a severe financial crisis after his governing Socialists were projected to win local ballots.

Papandreou had threatened with a snap election if his PASOK party fared badly in Sunday's local polls, billed as a referendum of the government's austerity measures. Official projections show PASOK-backed candidates will lead in seven of the country's 13 regional races.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

ATHENS, Greece (AP) _ Official projections show Greece's governing Socialists will win eight of 13 regional races, easing fears that the prime minister will call early general elections.

Prime Minister George Papandreou had demanded that voters in local elections show support for the government's austerity measures, which are designed to pull the country out of its debt crisis.

Yiannis Karakadas, CEO of Singular Logic, which is handling the vote count for the Interior Ministry, said projections based on 10 percent of returns showed the ruling PASOK party winning eight of 13 regions in the first round of voting. He said the race in three other regions was very close.