The Greek government will not be able to make debt repayments to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in June unless it strikes a deal with creditors, Interior Minister Nikos Voutsis said.
Voutsis told Greek Mega TV that the four instalments for the IMF in June are 1.6 billion euros, Athens Press reported.
"This money will not be given and is not there to be given," he said on Sunday.
"We are not seeking this, we don't want it, it is not our strategy. Things have matured for a deal of logic. We are discussing, based on our contained optimism, that there will be a strong agreement (with lenders) so that the country will be able to breathe. This is the bet," Voutsis responded when asked about his concern over a credit event if Greece defaults a payment, according to Athens Press.
Voutsis's remarks came as Yanis Varoufakis, finance minister, warned that "if progress was not made, it would be the beginning of the end for the euro project," according to The Telegraph.
Greece's radical left government - led by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras - wants the IMF, the European Union and the European Central Bank to release a blocked 7.2 billion euros bailout cash without imposing tough economic reforms and spending cuts, according to The Guardian. Greek government has been locked in negotiations with IMF, EU and ECB over the issue.
New York Times reported that Greece has nearly defaulted on a debt payment of 750 million euros to IMF two weeks ago.
In an interview with French newspaper Les Echoes, International Monetary Fund's chief economist Olivier Blanchard said Greece's budget proposals are not adequate to ensure a surplus this year, which had been forecast at 3 percent of gross domestic product, Greek newspaper ekathimerini reported.
Blanchard further said there is need for credible measures if Greece is to regain a surplus. However, he cautioned that this is "far from being the case at the moment."
