Greece submitted a request to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to postpone the debt repayment due on Friday and pay all its four installments due this month by the end of June.

Bundling multiple payments falling due in the same calendar month is allowed by the regulations of the IMF, but it was used for the last time back in the mid-1980s by Zambia, the BBC informs.

Greece has to pay nearly EUR 300 M to IMF on Friday and a total of nearly EUR 1.6 B until the end of the month.

In case the delay is approved, this will provide the government with vital time to reach an agreement in the negotiations with its international creditors on further bailout.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is trying to reach a deal on further bailout before the current deal with the EU and IMF expires on June 30 and the country runs out of cash.

Although Tsipras said early on Thursday that an agreement was in sight, the Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem said that key differences still remained.

Proposed reforms such as cuts to pensions and increase in the sales tax for electricity remained among the bones of contention between the two sides.

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