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Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras warned the European Central Bank (ECB) that if it did not allow Greece to issue government bonds over the limit of 15 billion euro, the atmosphere between Athens and its lenders "would return to the thriller" of the eve of the Eurogroup meeting on 20 February.

In an interview for the German magazine Der Spiegel he accuses the ECB of "continuing to hold a noose on the neck" of Greece despite the agreement reached for a 4-month extension of the rescue programme, warning that with its actions the ECB leadership is assuming great responsibility.

Tsipras’ reaction was in response to yesterday's decision of the ECB Governing Council, which rejected the request of Athens to increase the limit on the issuance of government bonds. ECB President Mario Draghi was adamant that the Euro system would not provide liquidity to Greek banks so that they could buy the government debt.

At the same time, Tsipras said he did not want Greece to leave the euro zone, noting that he "loved" Europe.

Meanwhile, Greek government sources said that Minister of Finance Yanis Varoufakis had sent to Brussels a new list of seven reforms to be discussed at the Eurogroup meeting on Monday. It is worth noting that it does not include changes in VAT rates and privatisations. In particular, the measures are as follows:

1. Forming a Budget Council in order to save money and extend its activities.
2. Implementing reforms in order to achieve a better preparation with regard to the budget and the main law on budget.
3. Creating a flexible structure to carry out targeted tax audits in order to fight tax evasion. It will be temporary.
4. Improving the legislation in terms of the deferred payment of old tax debts.
5. Direct flow of state revenues through a vote on the legal framework for the licensing of gambling.
6. Cutting red tape and improving the business climate by improving the services in the public sector.
7. Measures to address the humanitarian crisis.

Through its proposals the Greek government aims to persuade the euro zone finance ministers to approve the granting of part of the last tranche of the rescue programme to Athens.

According to international media that refer to spokesman of the German Ministry of Finance Martin Jaeger, the Eurogroup agreement reached on 20 February does not provide for the allocation of portions of the tranche. According to him, in order for Greece to receive the money it has to implement reforms and successfully complete the monitoring on the part of the lenders.

According to the same sources, Jaeger pointed out that the implementation of the required reforms depended entirely on the Greek government. In addition, he stated that the faster Athens implemented the arrangements the sooner it could obtain the last tranche of 7.2 billion euro.

Jaeger emphasized that, in all cases, it was more than clear that the negotiations between Greece and its lenders could not continue after the closing date in June.

Earlier today and referring to government sources, Reuters reported that Greece had paid the first 310 million euro of the loan granted by the International Monetary Fund.

The total amount of the loan is 1.5 billion euro and the remaining two payments must be made over the next two weeks.

If Greece failed to repay the loan, it would be the first developed country that would not be able to pay its debts to the IMF.