Greece's cash-strapped government insisted it was "very close" to reaching a vital deal with bailout lenders, but the optimism in Athens was swiftly shot down by German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble.

Greece's four-month-old government is days away from loan repayments to the International Monetary Fund it says it may not be able to honor.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras paid a rare visit to the Finance Ministry on Wednesday to announce that a breakthrough was in sight.