Greece said yesterday that a debt rollover scheme critical for its economic survival and for the eurozone was going well as pressure mounted on its embattled government to deliver reforms.

“Progress is satisfactory, things are advancing in a positive manner,” an official told AFP as a first deadline for the expression of bank interest expired, without revealing the level of participation in the scheme.

Greece had said earlier that the swap would not be viable if the participation rate were below 90 per cent. The debt rollover is an integral part of a new €159 billion bailout loan for Greece pieced together by the eurozone on July 21.

Greece is under time pressures on several counts.

The new rescue package has run into trouble amid rising exasperation among Greece’s fellow eurozone members over the tortuous speed of reforms mandated under a previous €110 billion lifeline extended last year.

Auditors from the EU, IMF and the European Central Bank suspended their work last week and sources close to the mission pointed to delays in fiscal reforms and the privatisation of state properties.

“As long as [the troika] cannot confirm that Greece has met its requirements, the next tranche for Greece cannot be paid,” German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble warned on Thursday.

“The situation in Greece is serious, given the interruption of the troika talks and there can be no illusions about that,” he said.

Experts from the European Union and International Monetary Fund arrived on Thursday to work with Greek officials on the draft budget for 2012. The top EU-IMF auditors are due to return on Wednesday.