Greek default can't be ruled out, says German finance minister

German finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble has warned that a Greek default can’t be ruled out.

Speaking to The Wall Street Journal and French daily Les Echos, he said he would not repeat an assurance he gave in late 2012 that Greek would default on its debt, as Athens and its creditors struggle to come to an agreement.

“I would have to think very hard before repeating this in the current situation,” he said, according to the WSJ.

“The sovereign, democratic decision of the Greek people has left us in a very different situation,” he said, referring to the January election that delivered a radical-left government bent on reversing five years of creditor-mandated austerity and painful economic overhauls.”

He showed no willingness to compromise in the negotiations that would unlock further aid to Greece, which is fast running out of money to repay its loans.

Schäuble also said he has invited UK Chancellor George Osborne to Berlin to begin talks on its request to rewrite the rules of its European Union membership.

“We have talked about him coming to Berlin so that we can think together about how we can combine the British position with the urgent need for a strengthened governance of the Eurozone,” he said. Chancellor Angela Merkel “knows this and David Cameron is informed”.