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There is no change in the assessment of the European Commission that an agreement with Greece is possible, and it is preferable to conclude it before 20 August. This is what the EC spokeswoman, Mina Andreeva, said. Thus, she indirectly responded to the publication of the German tabloid Bild, which argued that government sources in Berlin expect a delay in the negotiations and a new bridging loan to Athens.

In statements to correspondents in Brussels, Andreeva pointed out that yesterday's statements by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker that negotiations take place in a 'satisfactory' way are still valid.

She also emphasised that the European Commission, the European Central Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the European Stability Mechanism – and no other institution – are competent to assess the state of negotiations.

"The teams of the creditors have been in Athens for almost two weeks and report that progress is good. I am not aware of the existence of someone else out there who sees the picture more clearly than them," she added.

According to Mina Andreeva the EC experts are already working on the text of the new memorandum (the third bailout package). She also noted that 'hard work on all issues' is being done."

At the end of her release, the spokeswoman said that talks between senior representatives of the creditor institutions are expected on Friday afternoon. The talks will be dedicated to the situation in Greece.

According to all sources, the purpose of the two sides is to reach an agreement before 20 August. This is the date when Greece will have to meet a maturing bond worth €3.2 billion.

The negotiations are continuing today at the expert level, the main topics being the non-performing bank loans and budgetary performance.

As transpired from yesterday's meetings of the Ministers of Finance, Efklidis Tsakalotos, and the Minister of Economy, Giorgos Stathakis, with representatives of the creditors, agreement has yet to be reached on several issues: the recapitalisation of the banks, the establishment of a new privatisation fund, the timeframe for implementation of the budget measures and finalizing the estimates of the scope of the 2015 recession.

Greek media report that the creditors are expected to send the draft agreement to the Greek Government by Saturday in order to launch a discussion on its specifics.

Meanwhile, the Executive Director for Northern Europe at the IMF, Ostros Thomas, said that the fund will not decide whether to participate in the third rescue programme for Greece before the start of autumn.

In an interview for the Swedish daily, Dagens Nyheter, he said that there was "intense support for IMF's participation in a new bailout programme, but it takes time."

Ostros, deputy director of the 24-member IMF Executive Board and former multiple minister in the Swedish government, says the new financial package could simply postpone the final solution to the problem unless Greece still decided to carry out serious reforms.

"It is not possible to impose such reforms on them. Greece must be aware of its problem. However, the Greek government is not in this position yet," said Ostros and added: "They have an inefficient public sector, corruption is a relatively big challenge, and their pension costs more than it does in other countries."

The IMF had made an early announcement that it would not participate in the new bailout programme until agreement is reached on a series of reforms and the easing of Greece's foreign debt to a level of sustainability. Therefore, the Fund is not expected to participate in the first tranche of the new loan.

But it's participation in the bailout is considered critical if Greece's financing needs are to be fully covered. According to the creditors, by the end of 2018 Greece will need somewhere between 82 and 86 billion euros. The European Stability Mechanism will, however, only fork out about 50 billion and the remaining 36 billion have not been sourced as yet.

Under the current IMF bailout package for Greece, which expires in March 2016, but has been frozen since August 2014, there is a remainder of €16.3 billion. However, Athens has already submitted a formal request for a new loan, which by default cancels this package.