Proposals from Greece to explain how it will meet conditions for a new international bailout loan were received late this evening by Jeroen Dijsselbloem, who chairs the Eurogroup of euro zone finance ministers, his spokesman said.

"New Greek proposals received by Eurogroup President Dijsselbloem," he tweeted. "Important for institutions to consider these in their assessment."

The Greek government also announced it will seek a parliamentary vote tomorrow  to endorse immediate reform commitments it is offering euro zone creditors in a race to win a new loan and avert bankruptcy and a possible exit from the euro zone.

A Greek official said lawmakers would be asked to authorise the leftist government to negotiate a list of so-called "prior actions" it must take before aid funds are disbursed, a key step to convince sceptical lenders of its serious intent. 

Greek banks have been closed since June 29, when capital controls were imposed and cash withdrawals rationed after the collapse of previous bailout talks.

Germany, the biggest creditor, meanwhile took a small step towards Athens by conceding that Greece will need some debt restructuring as part of a proposed new three-year loan programme to make its economy viable. 

Greece has already had two bailouts worth 240 billion euros  from the euro zone and the International Monetary Fund, but since the crisis started its economy has shrunk by a quarter, unemployment is more than 25 percent and one in two young people is out of work.

Schaeuble, who makes no secret of his doubts about Greece's fitness to remain in the currency area, told a conference in Frankfurt: "Debt sustainability is not feasible without a haircut and I think the IMF is correct in saying that.

But he added: "There cannot be a haircut because it would infringe the system of the European Union."

He offered no solution to the conundrum, which implied that Greece's debt problem might not be soluble within the euro zone.

But he did say there was limited scope for "reprofiling" Greek debt by extending loan maturities, shaving interest rates and lengthening a moratorium on debt service payments.

Schaeuble also complained that he had not seen any sign of "prior actions" by the Greek government. Tomorrow's vote should go some way towards disarming such criticism, although a further vote will be required to turn the "prior actions" into law next week if an agreement is reached, the Greek official said.