Greece will need to tap all the remaining cash reserves across its public sector – a total of two billion euros – to pay civil service wages and pensions at the end of the month, according to Finance Ministry officials.

Barring a last-ditch deal with its creditors, that would leave no money to repay the International Monetary Fund almost €1 billion due in the first half of May.

Athens’ scramble for basic funds shows how extreme the financial constraints on Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras have become as he tries to convince sceptical foreign creditors to extend his country new financial aid.

Officials from Greece and the lenders are meeting in Brussels today for a new round of negotiations ahead of a key euro zone finance ministers’ meeting in Riga on April 24.

Greek government has been borrowing from different parts of the state administration to pay wages, pensions

“This is the last bit of cash that the Greek state has,” a senior Finance Ministry official, who requested anonymity, said.

Eurozone officials have voiced scepticism about previous Greek warnings of empty coffers, although even they acknowledge a crunch is nearing.

For months, the government has been borrowing from different parts of the state administration, including the Athens subway system, to pay the wages and pensions of public sector workers. Now, however, it is reaching the end of the line.

Finance Ministry officials say the state’s cash balance will be negative from April 20 if the government does not extract the €2 billion in cash deposits remaining in various public bodies, including a handful of pension funds and regional administrations. Without that money, the state would be €1.6 billion short of what it needs to pay month-end salaries and wages.

Regular tax revenues, which start flowing in early in the month, should help the state’s financial position of course. Tax revenues had begun to slip early in the year, when Tsipras’s government was elected, but have stabilised since to around €4 billion a month.

Still, the financial pressure will not subside because Athens faces a new round of payments to the IMF next month. It needs to give the IMF €950 million by May 12 – then domestic commitments kick in once again.

Tsipras is hopeful he can convince Greece’s creditors to unlock the funds Athens needs to prevent default and a possible exit from Europe’s single currency. To do that, he needs to present detailed plans to reform the economy, including the labour market and pensions system.