Greece’s finance minister has resigned, hours after voters voted against further austerity in a referendum.

The final result in the referendum, published by the interior ministry, was a decisive 61.3% “No”, against 38.7% “Yes”, with 62% of the country casting their votes.

Yanis Varoufakis, who had called on the Greek public to vote ‘no’, said he thought his absence could be helpful in leaders finding a solution to the Greek debt crisis.

Eurozone leaders, who have repeatedly clashed with Varoufakis, had expressed a preference for the finance minister to resign.

Meanwhile, Greek banks are on the verge of collapse, and the European Central Bank (ECB) is discussing whether to offer further loans to keep them afloat.

If Eurozone leaders do manage to reach an agreement over the Greek bailout, it could lead to Greece leaving both the Euro and European Union, known as the ‘Grexit’. However, neither the Greek government nor the leaders of other European leaders want to see Greece to leave the Euro.

Europe’s debt currently stands at €320bn, which is 177% of the country’s GDP, and severe austerity has had a major negative impact on the Greek economy, which has seen Greece’s GDP fall 25% since 2010 and the unemployment rate soar to 26%.