Greece's new anti-austerity government says it will miss a midnight deadline to provide a list of reforms to its international lenders aimed at obtaining a four-month extension of its bailout.
But a Greek government source insisted that Brussels would get the proposals on Tuesday morning, in time for eurozone finance ministers to discuss them in a conference call in the afternoon.
"The list of reforms will be sent tomorrow (Tuesday) morning to the finance ministers of the Eurogroup," the source said. On Friday, Greece had agreed to send the proposals by Monday night.
A source in Brussels said, however, the conference call would only take place if the "troika" of the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund deem the reforms to be sufficient.
Time is of the essence and the stakes are high, with Greece's current 240 billion-euro ($A348.96 billion) bailout program due to expire on Saturday and several European parliaments needing to approve any extension.
If Athens fails to win more time and the bailout expires, Prime Minister Alexis Tspiras's government risks running out of money, which could mean a run on banks and even possible ejection from the 19-country eurozone.
The Greek government source said that the much-awaited list of measures would include all the promises made by Tsipras's hard-left Syriza party before its sweeping election victory in January.
These include free electricity for 300,000 poor families, free access to health care, food and public transport coupons, and aid for those on low pensions. The source did not say how much extra these measures will cost.
Other measures include a more "just" taxation system, measures to tackle tax evasion and corruption and to crack down on smuggling, as well as streamlining the civil service to reduce bureaucracy.
However other eurozone members, not least powerhouse Germany, are concerned that Athens might backtrack on promises to cut spending and pass root-and-branch reforms made in return for its two bailout packages.
Any slippage might prompt other eurozone countries like Spain, Portugal, France and Italy to go easy on the tough austerity measures that Berlin sees as vital to preventing a return of the eurozone debt crisis.
In Berlin, a finance ministry spokesman said the list needed to be "coherent and plausible".
"Of course there will be measures that fit with the philosophy of Syriza ... but they also have to take account of budgetary balance and the need to repay debts," EU economic affairs commissioner Pierre Moscovici told France 2.
Tsipras wants to use the next four months to draw up a new reform package that puts the country - where unemployment stands at 25 per cent - on a fairer road to recovery after years of recession, spending cuts and state job losses.
But the firm and united negotiating stance of Germany and other eurozone countries has obliged the former communist activist and his Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis to give ground.
Share
