GREEK Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis vowed yesterday to reject any international bailout deal that did not help the country overcome its economic crisis.

The left-wing Syriza government faces demands from its European Union creditors for harsh austerity measures in return for a rescue loan.

But Mr Varoufakis said that Greece must escape the “strictness trap” of budget measures that might hurt the economy and prevent the country from reducing its debt mountain to manageable levels.

“If I do sign, I will be yet another finance minister who signs a mid-term fiscal adjustment programme that he knows will not work,” Mr Varoufakis said.

“And it can be proven mathematically that it doesn’t work.”

The minister insisted that the country needed its debt “redesigning” to substantially extend repayment deadlines, with possible solutions including bond swaps.

He said that, once a satisfactory agreement with creditors was reached, Greece would enjoy “a torrent of investment capital” from investors outside the European Union.