Athens has sent out a request for a loan extension to the EU, the Eurogroup's head says.

Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the Dutch Finance Minister currently heading the Eurogroup meetings, wrote on Twitter that the EU "received Greek request" for a six-month extension.

This comes following reports that Greece was ready to accept a EU proposal which would set the deadline of the current bailout program six months on after February 28, the date it is to expire.

Received Greek request for six months extension.

— Jeroen Dijsselbloem (@J_Dijsselbloem) February 19, 2015

Initially, Athens had insisted on a new agreement on its debt and also on partial debt relief and the issuance of the so-called "GDP bonds" with yields tied to the growth of domestic output. This is also what Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis had declared during a Eurogroup meeting earlier this week, refusing to accept the extension proposal.

The latest developments come amid speculation that Greece will only have money to deliver on current payments until end of March.

Daily Kathimerini's English-language version wrote Thursday that the proposal of Athens made this week was similar to the one former PM Antonis Samaras handed out last year to the EU Commission, in an attempt to secure last-resort financing for his country.

Shortly after reporting of the Greek request, Dijsselbloem reported a new Eurogroup meeting is now scheduled for Friday, 15:00 CET.

#Eurogroup Friday in Brussels as of 15.00.

— Jeroen Dijsselbloem (@J_Dijsselbloem) February 19, 2015

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