Greece's endeavors to exit its international rescue program were meeting with growing skepticism in Brussels, a senior EU official said Monday. Speaking on terms of anonymity, he said there was much doubt about the southern eurozone country's ability to mange without another major shot in the arm from international lenders.

Athens indicated it wanted to leave the rescue fund granted to it under the terms of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) so as not to be subjected to tight foreign monitoring anymore.

Greece has so far been granted two aid packages worth a total of 240 billion euros ($300 billion). While the most recent aid program from fellow European governments expires towards the end of this year, a scheme by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) only ends on March 31, 2016.

Clash of interests

But government officials in Athens have been analyzing ways of walking out of the IMF program prematurely and gaining access to bond markets again to keep the state afloat.

Eurozone finance ministers are coming together Thursday to discuss the case. They have until December 8 to decide whether to let Greece exit its rescue program.

Keeping Greece in the program would mean two things - more financial aid for the country, but also many more months of prescribed austerity that's brought millions onto the streets in protest of growing hardships, stifled growth, huge tax burdens and record-high unemployment.

The chances of Greece returning to bond markets any time soon don't look rosy at present, with interest rates for sovereign debt purchases having again gone up markedly in October.

Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said in a televised interview his government was negotiating with EU leaders to secure a precautionary credit line that the country could fall back on, should a return to money markets prove too costly for the time being.

hg/sgb (dpa, AFP)