"I continue to say that, for us, the door is still open, although in the meantime the possibilities and time are very limited," the head of the group of eurozone finance ministers told journalists in The Hague.

Greece is hurtling toward an IMF default on Tuesday and possible exit from the euro after the shock breakdown of debt talks with creditors on Saturday.

Asked whether it was possible to avoid a Greek exit from the euro currency, a so-called Grexit, Dijsselbloem said "it's still very conceivable".

Voicing disappointment at Greece's shot exit from talks, Dijsselbloem said the negotiations were "about Greece's future, and despite the talks not being over, they left the table".

Greece looks likely to default on an IMF debt payment of about 1.5 billion euros (US$1.7 billion) due on Tuesday, a first step on a path that could lead to it exiting the eurozone.

The government in Athens has called a referendum for July 5 on the latest bailout proposal being offered to Greece.

Earlier, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that any new negotiations with Greece on its crippling debt crisis should come after its upcoming referendum on EU bailout proposals.

"Should the Greek government ask for negotiations, for example after the referendum (next Sunday), we would of course not refuse," she told reporters.

The outcome of a referendum called by Athens for July 5 on bailout proposals is "of course to do with the future of the euro", Merkel said, stressing it was however up to Greeks to decide how to vote.

She was speaking at a joint press conference with Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel after an emergency meeting with party and parliamentary leaders on the Greek crisis.

Gabriel was more direct in saying the question in Sunday's Greek referendum amounted to a 'yes' or 'no' to staying in the eurozone and that Greek voters must be clear on what they are voting on.

Merkel described the last proposals to Athens by creditors, which Greece has rejected, as "generous", adding "the will on the Greek side for such a compromise was not there".

While she said Europe must be capable of compromise, she also warned that "nobody can however get 100 percent".

And she reiterated that Europe's core principles of individual responsibility as well as solidarity were "two sides of the same coin".

Germany's Bundestag lower house of parliament will hold a debate on the Greek crisis Wednesday, the day after Greece's bailout program expires, Merkel announced. (ren)

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