Greek Finance Minister Varoufakis confirms Greece will not pay IMF debt due Tuesday

Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis confirmed that the country will not make its payment due later to the International Monetary Fund.

Varoufakis said Athens still holds out hope of a last-minute deal with creditors on an aid package.

When asked while walking into the Finance Ministry about whether Greece will pay the 1.6 billion euros due to the IMF, Varoufakis said “no.”

His comment came amid speculation that Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is trying to craft some sort of last-minute deal with creditors before the payment is due and before the European part of Greece’s bailout comes to an end.

A Greek official said Tsipras has spoken with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi and European Parliament president Martin Schulz.

Greece’s chief negotiators says that accepting proposals of institutions would not have turned economy around.

The official did not reveal what was discussed.