The Hague: Eurogroup chairman Jeroen Dijsselbloem said Wednesday he is still working to keep Greece within the eurozone and that any predictions about a so-called Grexit are premature.
"My intention remains to keep Greece within the eurozone," Dijsselbloem told a Dutch parliamentary committee ahead of Thursday`s crucial Eurogroup meeting where Greece is set to top the agenda.
In response to a question from a lawmaker about the likelihood of a messy Greece exit from the euro in the absence of a new bailout deal, Dijsselbloem, who is also Dutch finance minister, said "I find any predictions premature."
"We are all jumping to conclusions and that we should not do," he said.
Dijsselbloem said the Eurogroup, the finance ministers of the 19 countries which share the euro, remained open to Greek suggestions on reforms "but the question remains whether they`ll do so before Thursday`s Eurogroup meeting."
"If they (suggestions) don`t come, we can`t make judgements, the institutions can`t make judgements let alone the Eurogroup," he said.
"Chances of reaching a decision on Thursday are very small," Dijsselbloem said.
Earlier Wednesday the Greek central bank warned that the cash-strapped country could crash out of the eurozone and even the European Union if it failed to reach a bailout deal with international creditors.
Analysts have long warned that a default may set off a chain of events leading to a messy exit from the eurozone, but not the country leaving the EU altogether.
Negotiations over the release of the last 7.2 billion euros ($8.1 billion) in rescue funds from Greece`s massive bailout from the International Monetary Fund, European Union and European Central Bank are deadlocked as payment deadlines loom.
Greece is due to make a 1.6 billion euro payment to the IMF at the end of the month, with another 6.7 billion euros due to the ECB in July and August -- payments which Greek officials have said the government cannot afford.
Yet while the atmosphere between Greece and its creditors has deteriorated in recent days, although the Bank of Greece insisted that the two sides were not that far apart, with only "little ground" between them before a deal could be struck.
"My input continues to find a credible way of keeping Greece in the eurozone -- and it is in their interest too," Dijsselbloem said.
But he warned: "The longer it takes Greece to reach a deal, the bigger the damage to the Greek economy."
