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Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis has accused Athens' creditors of "terrorism", the day before a referendum on an international bailout.
Speaking to Spain's El Mundo newspaper, he said the country's lenders wanted to "instil fear in people".
Earlier the two sides in the referendum ended their campaigns with big rallies.
The government has urged voters to say "No" to the terms of a bailout package. But opponents warn this would see Greece ejected from the eurozone.
Greece's current bailout programme with the European Commission, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and European Central Bank (ECB) ran out on Tuesday.
Banks have been shut all week, with limits imposed on cash withdrawals.
Mr Varoufakis said the so-called "troika" of creditors wanted a "yes" vote to win so they could humiliate the Greeks.
"Why did they force us to close the banks? To instil fear in people. And spreading fear is called terrorism," he said.
He added that PM Alexis Tsipras would still reach an agreement with creditors if the result was "No", and that banks in Greece would reopen on Tuesday whatever the outcome.
Correspondents say it is unclear whether this will happen.
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The BBC's Chris Morris in Athens says that, for many, this has become a choice about whether to stay in the eurozone.
With so much at stake, he says, the rhetoric is getting nasty.
Tens of thousands of Greeks attended rival rallies on Friday night.Mr Tsipras told supporters Greece needed "say a proud 'No' to [European] ultimatums" to sign up to fresh austerity.
But "Yes" campaigners said they believed Mr Tsipras could not deliver on such a promise.
Nikos, a doctor, told AFP: "They cannot pretend any longer that it's not about leaving the euro... and outside the euro lies only misery."
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Ballot paper question
"Must the agreement plan submitted by the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund to the Eurogroup of 25 June, 2015, and comprised of two parts which make up their joint proposal, be accepted? The first document is titled "reforms for the completion of the current programme and beyond" and the second "Preliminary debt sustainability analysis".
Voters must check one of two boxes - "not approved/no" or, below it, "approved/yes"The European Commission, the European Union's executive arm - one of the "troika" of creditors along with the International Monetary Fund and the ECB - wants Athens to raise taxes and slash welfare spending to meet its debt obligations.
On Tuesday, the previous eurozone bailout expired, depriving Greece of access to billions of euros in funds, and Athens missed a €1.5bn repayment to the IMF.Click & Close Ads
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Sunday, July 5, 2015
