Greece cannot ask its people to accept a further austerity squeeze, prime minister Antonis Samaras said on Friday, while warning that his debt-wracked country would run out of funds next month.
In a wide-ranging interview in German daily Handelsblatt, Samaras also reiterated that Greece needed more time to implement deep cuts demanded by international creditors rather than a fresh injection of cash.
Asked how long Greece could survive without the next slice of aid, Samaras said: "Until the end of November. Then the coffers are empty."
"I cannot and I will not deny it: Greek democracy is facing perhaps its biggest ever challenge," stated the prime minister.
In return, Greece has signed up to a vast programme of austerity and cuts to satisfy the demands of the so-called "troika" of creditors - the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
Officials from the so-called "troika" - are currently in Greece assessing the country's progress in fulfilling the terms for receiving the aid.
"The cuts we have already made have cut to the bone. We are at the limits of what we can ask of our people," he said.
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