Germany considers Greek "timeout" from euro zone -paper

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's Finance Ministry believes Greece's latest reform proposals do not go far enough and has suggested two alternative courses for Athens including a "timeout" from the euro zone, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung (FAS) reported.

"These proposals miss out important central reform areas to modernise the country and to bring economic growth and sustainable development over the long term," the FAS quoted the ministry as writing in a position paper.

Instead, the ministry set out two alternative courses for Greece. Under the first, Athens would improve its proposals quickly and transfer assets worth 50 billion euros ($56 billion) to a fund in order to pay down its debt.

Under the second scenario, Greece would take a "timeout" from the euro zone of at least five years and restructure its debt, while remaining a member of the European Union.

The Finance Ministry declined to comment on the FAS report. ($1 = 0.8960 euros)

(Writing by Paul Carrel; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)