Representatives of international lenders reportedly requested that salaries towards employees in the wider public sector not be paid for one to two months in order to combat a cash crunch now faced by the Greek government.

Greek FinMin Yanis Varoufakis replied, according to the same reports, that it was shameful to even propose such a thing, requesting that he should never have to listen to such proposals again.

Finance ministry officials confirmed that the proposal by the lenders was revealed by Varoufakis’ adviser, Elena Panariti. The proposal was tabled during the meetings she had in Brussels, before Tuesday’s Brussels Group.

According to the same sources, Varoufakis declined to even consider such a prospect.

Panariti, who first emerged on the political scene as a state MP for socialist PASOK when it swept to power in 2009, also said the climate during the last negotiations fosters was unfavorable towards Greece.

According to Panariti, the lenders are not exactly helpful. They apparently count on peculiar ways to make proposals, such as the one about a salary stoppage, while others claim the country should move towards reforms with other partners.

According to the Varoufakis aide, there are three problems with the crisis:

— The cause of the crisis has not been combated, namely, that the country produces nothing (of increased value).

— More debt was created while nothing was produced.

— not only has Greece lost productivity levels but have also suffered a ‘brain drain’. There is a demographic “bomb” in Greece, since the young, aged between 18-24, number only 250,000.

According Panariti, ECB employees operate like banking employees. She also characterized the EC officials as bureaucrats, aiming to issue budgets for the loans they are willing to hand out.

She also mentioned that it is a real problem that many a 45-year-old retires in Greece, even today.