Dimitris Tzanakopoulos

With the backlash over the derogatory remarks about crisis-stricken Southern European made by Jeroen Dijsselbloem - the chief of the eurozone's finance ministers - in full swing on Wednesday, Greek government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos said the Dutch official was divisive and "completely misguided."

The government was striving on Wednesday to nip in the bud any talk about the need for the opposition to throw its weight behind economic measures agreed with creditors, as was suggested by European officials this week.

Greece said on Wednesday it hopes for a deal with its international lenders within the month of April and is working to bridge differences on labor, pension and energy reforms.

The onus for an agreement was not only on the Greek government, but on its European Union and International Monetary Fund lenders too, government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos told reporters.

Responsibility for concluding Greece's bailout review does not just lie with Athens, government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos has said adding that lenders must respect the memorandum of understanding signed with the country.

Speaking at a press briefing Wednesday, Tzanakopoulos said that Athens was looking for a comprehensive deal with creditors in April.

The government is attempting to show that its so-called countermeasures, which are meant to boost growth, are now a given, and that the austerity era is coming to an end, with spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos claiming on Monday that "in the certain case we achieve a primary surplus of 3.5 percent of GDP in 2018," the countermeasures will be implemented.

The deepening concern within SYRIZA and the government about how to manage the impact of a potential deal with Greece's lenders became evident on Monday when Interior Minister Panos Skourletis suggested the coalition should seek the support of an enhanced parliamentary majority for any agreement.

Representatives of Greece's international creditors were expected to leave the capital on Friday without having reached an agreement with government officials on contentious issues including pension reform and overhauls to labor rights and the tax system.

Athens aims to have concluded talks on a technical-level agreement with creditors by the March 20 Eurorgoup meeting, government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos said during a press briefing Thursday.

Tzanakopoulos added that the SYRIZA-led administration wanted to bridge remaining differences regarding the post-2019 fiscal policy mix by the same date.

Government officials scrambled on Wednesday to present a positive narrative and a united front to the public despite the fact that bailout talks with Greece's international creditors are crawling along and public discontent over further austerity is rising amid reports of divisions within the coalition.

Greece is near a technical agreement with creditors regarding fiscal measures until 2018, government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos has said.

Speaking on Skai radio Wednesday, Tzanakopoulos said that a technical agreement could be reached before March 20, when eurozone finance ministers are next due to meet.