A Greek minister has resorted to a comparison with Bulgaria to describe the nightmare his country would face in the wake of further austerity austerity measures.

"If you cut salaries, incomes, pensions, you cut everything, the demand decreases, and then consumption decreases rapidly. All the policies are part of a vicious circle," Greek Development Minister Michalis Chrisochoidis said, as cited by Washington Post.

"Wage cuts don't help demand, they don't help growth. If you want to become Bulgaria, you don't need the troika. It's very simple .?.?. you default and you're finished."

The newspaper comments that Europe has started to acknowledge that its austerity-driven policies elsewhere have not done enough to lift the continent out of its economic troubles and leaders are showing a new willingness to consider economic stimulus policies. But Greece, so far, remains an exception.

Meanwhile the banks' negotiations with Greece for a debt write-off deal reached a critical point. An agreement could be finalized within days, according to media reports.

Late Tuesday, Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos said that a deal with private creditors could be submitted to parliament by February 13, and would see banks writing off "over 70 percent" of Greece's debt.

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