Yanis Varoufakis gave the warning after eurozone finance ministers
met in Brussels to discuss the final €7.2bn tranche of Greece's €240m
EU/IMF bailout.
Ministers said Greece had made "progress" but more work was needed.
The Greek government is struggling to meet its payment obligations.
Earlier,
Greece began the transfer of €750m (£544m, $834m) in debt interest to
the International Monetary Fund - a day ahead of a payment deadline.
"The
liquidity issue is a terribly urgent issue. It's common knowledge,
let's not beat around the bush," Mr Varoufakis told reporters in
Brussels.
"From the perspective [of timing], we are talking about the next couple of weeks."Greece has until the end of June to reach a reform deal with its
international creditors. Its finances are running so low that it has had
to ask public bodies for help.
The crisis has raised the prospect that Greece might default on its debts and leave the euro.
The
eurozone is insisting on a rigorous regime of reforms, including cuts
to pensions, in return for the bailout, but Greece's anti-austerity
Syriza-led government is resisting the tough terms.
In a
statement, the eurozone finance ministers said they "welcomed the
progress that has been achieved so far" in the negotiations, but added:
"We acknowledged that more time and effort are needed to bridge the gaps
on the remaining open issues."
Eurogroup chairman Jeroen
Dijsselbloem said there had to be a full deal on the bailout before
Greece received any further payments.
"There are time constraints
and liquidity constraints and hopefully we will reach an agreement
before time runs out and before money runs out," he said.
There had been fears that Greece would default on its IMF debt repayment due on Tuesday.
Referendum
However, a Greek
finance ministry official was quoted as saying that the order for
repayment had been executed on Monday. Almost €1bn has been handed over
to the IMF in interest payments since the start of May.
It is
unclear how the government came up with the funds, but the mayor of
Greece's second city Thessaloniki revealed last week that he had handed
over cash reserves in response to an appeal for money.
Syriza has
said it will not break its anti-austerity electoral promises, and that
has raised the prospect of a referendum on any deal agreed in Brussels.
Germany's finance minister, Wolfgang Schaueble, has lent support to the idea.
"Maybe this would be the right measure to let the Greek people decide if it is ready to accept what is necessary," he said.
Source: BBC
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