Greek Finance Minister YanisVaroufakis said he had a fruitful discussion with European Central Bank President Mario Draghi on Wednesday (February 4) and delivered the message that there cannot be business as usual in Greece.

"Mr Draghi was particularly helpful in outlining the mechanism by which the European Central Bank supports the euro zone member states, including Greece. We had a very fruitful discussion and exchange concerning the constraints, the rules, the regulations, the process by which the relationship between Greece, the euro zone and of course the Central Bank must unfold," told journalists upon leaving the ECB.

He added that he had told Draghi that the situation could not go on as "business as usual" in Greece.

"I had the opportunity to present to him our government's utter and unwavering determination that it can't possibly be business as usual in Greece, both in terms of the reforms that we need in order to...And the various malignancies that have afflicted the Greek economy and society for so many years, and also in terms of a programme that has been leading to or fuelling the deflationary crisis in our nation, thus causing a major humanitarian crisis," he said.

In an interview with a German newspaper Varoufakis promised that his country will "never again" have a budget deficit and tried to reassure Germany that Athens' new policies did not mean it was turning its back on reform.

Varoufakis is scheduled to meet German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble on Thursday (February 5) after touring Europe to drum up support for plans to halt the austerity policies prescribed by Berlin.

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