article: Greece has denied it will fail to pay a multi-million pound loan following reports it has drawn up plans to introduce parallel drachma currency to pay domestic bills. The country is due to repay a £330million loan to the International Monetary Fund on Thursday but there were concerns the heavily indebted nation would default on the payment. Deputy finance minister Dimitris Mardas said that Greece will in fact make the payment on time. Greece has denied it will miss a repayment of £330million to the International Monetary Fund after reports it had drawn up plans to introduce a parallel drachma currency to pay its bills . He said: 'We strive to be able to pay our obligations on time. We are ready to pay on April 9.' Sources close to the ruling Syriza party claimed the government was prioritising paying wages and pensions over any loans due, according to the Telegraph. It  reported that the nation no longer has the funds to repay the debt unless the eurozone agrees to pay the next portion of its interim bail-out deal in time. A senior official told the newspaper: 'We are a Left-wing government. If we have to choose between a default to the IMF or a default to our own people, it is a no-brainer. 'We may have to go into a silent arrears process with the IMF. This will cause a furore in the markets and means that the clock will start to tick much faster.' German magazine Der Spiegel quoted . a finance ministry general secretary, Nikos Theocharakis, as . saying Greece would probably not pay next week's IMF tranche, . prompting a further denial from the Greek finance ministry. Theocharakis said Greece would be 'close to the end' on . April 9 and called the technical teams from its creditors . 'completely useless,' according to an extract of the article due . to be published on Saturday. 'Mr. Theocharakis never characterised the technical teams of . the institutions with the phrase attributed to him,' the . ministry said in a statement. 'On the contrary ... he referred . to them as saying they include 'top-notch people with impressive . skills.'' Deputy finance minister Dimitris Mardas (pictured) said that Greece will in fact make the payment on time . Germany's Spiegel Online quoted Belgian Finance Minister . Johan Van Overtveldt as saying that Greece postponing the . repayment due on April 9 was 'out of the question', otherwise a . Greek exit from the eurozone could no longer be ruled out. He said the Eurogroup would not release further funds to . Greece until Athens implemented some of the reforms it had . promised. Athens has not received bailout funds since August last year . and has resorted to measures such as borrowing from state . entities via repo transactions to tide it through the cash . crunch. The government is hoping approval of its latest reforms . package will unlock remaining aid of 7.2 billion euros under its . EU/IMF bailout and lead to the return of about 1.9 billion euros . in profits made by the European Central Bank on Greek bonds. Mardas said, without providing figures, that state revenue . in March had topped targets and that the government had made . progress in talks with lenders on its latest reforms list. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said Greece would . receive fresh funds only once its creditors approve the reforms . Athens has presented.
highlights: Greece is due to repay £330million loan to the International Monetary Fund .
  There were concerns heavily indebted nation would default on payment .
  Deputy finance minister Dimitris Mardas claims Greece will meet demand .
  It was reported nation didn't have funds to repay debt without agreement .
prediction: Greece has denied it will 
   pay 
   - 
   reports it 
   drawn up plans 
   introduce parallel drachma currency 
   The country is due to repay a £ 330million loan to the International Monetary Fund on Thursday 
   concerns 
   nation would default 
   finance minister Dimitris Mardas said that Greece will in fact make the payment on time 
   miss 
   repayment of 
   pay its bills . 
   Sources 
   government 
   prioritising paying wages and pensions 
   IMF 
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  ' 
   . April 9 
  