Greece has rejected suggestions it should cede control over its own budget to an EU outsider, the BBC reported on Sunday.

Culture Minister Pavlos Yeroulanos told the BBC it would be “impossible” for Greece to accept such a deal.

He was responding to a leaked German proposal for a European Union budget commissioner to take control over the country’s tax and spending powers.

“We have been giving up quite a bit, but I think sovereignty is a red line that no-one would dare cross,” Yeroulanos said.

“I would rather resign as a minister than allow anybody to tell us the way we should be spending our money,” he added.

Meanwhile, Greece and creditors who own its bonds are said to be close to a deal to significantly reduce the country’s debt, paving the way for it to receive much-needed further bailout funds from the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The deal could be finalized next week.