PRIME Minister Alexis Tsipras celebrated two years in office yesterday, promising that “not another euro” of new austerity measures would be imposed by his “radical left” Syriza government.

His promise mirrored pledges made during the 2015 general campaign when he said he would scrap existing bankers’ bailout agreements and austerity measures.

His government’s talks with bailout lenders over deeper cuts remain at an impasse.

Despite his brave words, Mr Tsipras eventually negotiated a third major international rescue deal after months of confrontation with lenders from eurozone countries and the International Monetary Fund.

He beseeched EU leaders in a newspaper interview yesterday to help Greece’s economy recover from years of recession, arguing that it would make the union stronger.

“Under no circumstances will we have legislation for any further austerity measures — not another euro — beyond what has already been agreed upon,” he told EfSyn newspaper.

The IMF is pressing for tougher cuts, arguing that Greece’s fiscal goals, including an ambitious 2017 growth target, cannot be achieved under current budget plans without more generous debt relief.

The government indicated willingness on Tuesday to extend an automatic spending reduction mechanism for an extra year beyond the current 2016-2018 bailout programme.

Eurozone finance ministers are likely to consider the proposal at a meeting in Brussels today.

The government is hoping to overcome delays in bailout talks to try to qualify the country to participate in a European Central Bank bond-buying stimulus programme, viewing it as key to economic recovery after years of decline and stagnation.