saying on Wednesday that it was unclear when his country would be able to return to the financial markets for funding.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Papaconstantinou said the timetable would become clearer when an EU-IMF deal had been struck for Portugal.
"A judgment cannot be made before the summer and before Portugal closes its deal," he said.
Papaconstantinou said Greece needed time to convince international investors about its reform programme, which he said "proved longer and harder."
"Yes, we need more time. There is no question about that... But more time, not in terms of a new programme but to convince."
Germany acknowledged for the first time on Wednesday that Greece may need to restructure, but Papaconstantinou reiterated that the government did not intend to restructure its debt.
"Our position is that we are proceeding with the programme... This is what we're doing and we're ruling out (a debt) restructuring," he said.
Greece will present new fiscal and privatisation plans on Friday in an attempt to convince investors it can meet the terms of an EU/IMF bailout.
source: REUTERS
