Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras agreed in a telephone call with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande on the need for an immediate solution to the long-running debt negotiations involving a lower primary budget surplus target for Greece.
Craigs Investment Partners broker Chris Timms said the third call in a week took place before Mr Tsipras met European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker in Brussels to hear the terms of the plan drawn up by the EU, the European Central Bank and the IMF.
''With time running out, and looking to draw a line under four months of acrimonious negotiations, the creditors have effectively come up with a take-it-or-leave offer.''
However, Mr Tsipras had produced a plan of his own and said he intended to discuss the document in Brussels.
He called on euro zone partners to show some ''realism'' and urged a deal that would let Greece escape from ''economic asphyxiation'', Mr Timms said.
Greece had not received any cash from its trio of creditors since last August and its coffers are all but empty.
It is due to pay back to the IMF 300 million ($NZ473.6 million) of loans tomorrow.
Greece has three other repayments, totalling about 1.23 billion, due to the IMF this month after the one tomorrow.
If Greece misses the IMF payment, the immediate consequences are hard to predict but officials have warned for months a default could ultimately push Greece out of the single European currency and unleash possible turmoil on world markets.
Reuters reported hardline German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble indicated an initial look at Greece's reform suggestions showed talks aimed at securing an aid-for-reforms deal would take time.
''I have no information that anything decisive has changed in terms of substance,'' he said in Berlin.
Looking for a compromise, the creditors suggested Greece should post a budget surplus before interest payments of 1% of gross domestic product this year and 2% in 2016, instead of 3% and 4.5% respectively under the terms of the current plan.
Sources said the Greek Government had offered a primary surplus of 0.8% of GDP this year and 1.5% next year.
The relatively small gap in headline numbers masked tougher unresolved issues on how to achieve the fiscal targets.
Athens offered to curb early retirement to save on pension payouts but the lenders wanted cuts in supplementary pensions, a smaller civil service and an easing of private sector layoffs to make the economy more competitive.
Mr Timms said it was not clear if the creditors - euro zone governments, the ECB and the IMF - would show any flexibility in those areas.
At a glance
• Greece must pay IMF debt of €300 million by tomorrow.
• Risk of default could see Greece pushed out of single currency euro zone.
• Greece putting forward a compromise on achieving budget surplus goals slower than insisted on by creditors.
• France favours giving Greece more time while Germany sees little different in Greece position.
