Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said on Monday in an interview with “Sto Eniko” on private STAR TV that the Greek government received a mandate to negotiate with its international creditors from the European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund. He said that the government did not want a rupture with these institutions.

Varoufakis stated confidence that there will be an agreement reached soon and denied reports that there was another currency being considered. He estimated that a deal was just a matter of days away.

He said that he would prefer to see a default rather than not pay wages and pensions, adding that there would be no more cuts to pensions but not ruling out that the Radical Left Coalition (SYRIZA) government may take measures against early retirement.

The Greek finance minister pointed to three main “thorns” for an agreement. These are the social security system, labor and fiscal issues.