'Greek debt could go above 140% of GDP'

A radical strategy would be for euro zone countries, which have made loans totalling 127 billion euros to Greece under the two bailout programmes, to write off some of that.

But Asmussen said that was unlikely.

The appetite for a second restructuring is extremely low among member states, he said, referring to the private sector write down of Greek debt earlier this year. He said it was still better to keep Greece within the euro zone and that the country may get two more years of financing, although there was still no agreement on how to do this. In the next few days, we need an agreement on further measures in Greece and additional aid from the other euro area countries to ensure debt sustainability, he said.