Greece 'will need more cash'

The Athens government still won't be able to finance its debt on financial markets in 2015 and 2016 and so will require another assistance programme, said Mr Asmussen.

Loans have kept Greece afloat since 2010 and creditors have pledged rescue loans worth €240 billion (£192bn) until 2014 because the country could no longer refinance its debt in the markets.

Avaricious investors had demanded prohibitive interest rates, claiming that the country might default.

But the IMF prescription of job cuts, sell-offs, wage cuts and pension limitations has signally failed to make any dent in the crisis, merely making a bad situation worse, alienating the Greek working class and even creating a new budget shortfall of €30bn (£24bn) under the current bail-out programme.

Eurozone finance ministers and officials from the ECB and IMF will meet tomorrow to decide how to plug that hole.

Creditors initially hoped Greece's debt burden could be reduced to 120 per cent of gross domestic product by 2020, but Greece's debt is now forecast to hit 190 per cent next year.

However fresh loans still won't be enough and eurozone creditors might be forced to write off some debt.

"We cannot help the country with loans alone," Mr Asmussen insisted. "That closes the finance gap but increases the country's debt."

German central bank chief Jens Weidmann - also an ECB board member - accepted on Friday that Greece would need another debt write-off.