DHAKA: Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras has said he is confident that agreement can be reached with creditors over repayment of Greece’s debts.

Tsipras said in a statement issued to Bloomberg news agency that he had never intended to act unilaterally.

German chancellor Angela Merkel has ruled out debt cancellation, saying creditors had already made concessions.

Tsipras’ Syriza party won last weekend’s election with a pledge to have half the debt written off.

Its new finance minister Yanis Varoufakis has refused to work with the ‘troika’ of global institutions overseeing Greek debt, which had agreed a €240bn bailout with the previous Greek government.

The troika is made up of the European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund.

Greece still has a debt of €315bn - about 175% of gross domestic product - despite some creditors writing down debts in a renegotiation in 2012.

BDST: 1054 HRS, FEB 01, 2015