Japan's Finance Minister Jun Azumi on Tuesday called for the swift and transparent passage of a rescue package for Greece, to reassure markets and help stem the yen's recent surge against the euro.

"We are seeing an extremely high yen and a weak euro," Azumi told reporters at a regular press conference.

"The sense of uncertainty cannot be wiped out unless (euro member states) clearly show the market they are swiftly implementing the assistance scheme for Greece."

Three of the eurozone's 17 members have yet to pass the July 21 agreement that announced a second rescue plan for Greece and mentioned enhancing the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), the eurozone's bailout fund.

Azumi's comments come amid increasing international exasperation over Europe's dithering over the long-running sovereign debt saga, amid concerns that the bloc's leaders lack the unity to avert economic disaster.

Japan's finance minister spoke after eurozone finance ministers delayed a decision on giving Greece the next instalment of bailout cash.

"All major non-eurozone economic players are becoming impatient about the eurozone's ability to solve its debt problem," said Ivan Tselichtchev, economist at the Japan Center for Economic Research.

"Japan is particularly impatient because as long as the problem will go on there will be upside pressure on the Japanese yen."

Athens on Sunday said it would not meet this year's deficit-cutting target, sparking a global market selloff Monday.

A decision on the next 8.0 billion euro ($10.9 billion) tranche of bailout cash, which Athens needs to avoid a near-term default, has been delayed until mid-October.

Eurozone chief Jean-Claude Juncker has said Greece will not be allowed to default on its debt.

Inspectors from the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund are in Athens to inspect Greece's finances and are expected to complete their report by the end of the week.

The beleaguered euro hit a fresh 10-year low of 100.88 yen on Tuesday in early Tokyo trade, after falling to an eight-month low versus the dollar on Monday.

The yen's relative strength against its major counterparts threatens to undermine Japan's recovery from the impact of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, which helped tip the world's third-largest economy into recession.

A strong yen erodes the repatriated earnings of exporters, and has forced more firms to consider moving production and jobs overseas in search of cheaper labour costs.

The safe haven unit has surged as investors flee market volatility amid increasing fears of a global recession, with little progress seen in resolving the eurozone crisis and indications of an economic slowdown in the US.

The yen hit a post-war high of 75.95 to the dollar in August, despite Japan's efforts to intervene in currency markets to weaken the unit.

Japan has invested large sums in bonds issued by the EFSF -- around 2.68 billion euros, or 20 percent of the total amount raised by the first three issues launched by the fund this year to help Ireland and Portugal.