GERMANY: Maybe Greece needs a 'timeout' from the eurozone

Germany's Finance Ministry believes Greece's latest reform proposals do not go far enough and has suggested two alternative courses for Athens including a "timeout" from the euro zone, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung (FAS) reported.

"These proposals miss out important central reform areas to modernize the country and to bring economic growth and sustainable development over the long term," the FAS quoted the ministry as writing in a position paper.

Instead, the ministry set out two alternative courses for Greece. Under the first, Athens would improve its proposals quickly and transfer assets worth 50 billion euros ($56 billion) to a fund in order to pay down its debt.

Under the second scenario, Greece would take a "timeout" from the euro zone of at least five years and restructure its debt, while remaining a member of the European Union.

An EU official stated that the 'timeout' scenario is legally unfeasible, can't be taken seriously, and wouldn't be viable economically.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble has not raised the possibility of Greece exiting the euro zone at crisis talks in Brussels discussing aid for Athens, Greek government officials said on Saturday.

"The issue of a Grexit has not been raised by anyone, including Schaeuble, at the Eurogroup meeting," a Greek government official told Reuters.

Earlier, Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung (FAS) reported Germany's Finance Ministry suggested two alternative courses for Athens including a "timeout" from the euro zone.

A second Greek official said such reports were never raised at the Eurogroup meeting, where Greece was making a last-ditch appeal to secure billions of euros in international funding assistance to stave off a financial meltdown.

(Writing by Paul Carrel; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)