Greece must produce plan today

Draghi on Greece: this time it's really difficult

Photograph: Eric Vidal/Reuters

Mario Draghi, one of the crucial players in this drama, has warned that resolving the Greece crisis will be very tough.
That’s according to Italian financial daily Il Sole 24 Ore today.
It reports that Draghi was asked about the prospect of a Greek deal when on a flight from Brussels to Rome yesterday, and replied:

“I don’t know, this time it’s really difficult.”

Draghi also downplayed the prospect of Russian President Vladimir Putin stepping in, saying:

“I don’t see it as a real risk ... and then, they don’t have money themselves.”

Introduction: 

Tourists take in the view over the city of Athens from Lycabettus Hill. Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of the Greek debt crisis.
“I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by.”
With that attitude, Douglas Adams would certainly have enjoyed the eurozone crisis. But Greece now faces one of those deadlines that one really can’t miss.
Alexis Tsipras’s government must draw up and deliver a credible economic plan to its creditors by the end of the day, to have any chance of securing the third bailout plan it requested on Wednesday.
Tsipras, back in Athens after his bruising trip to the European Parliament, will meet with his cabinet today to discuss the details.
That could be a tense affair; sections of his Syriza party will surely battle against the imposition of fresh austerity measures, especially after last Sunday’s referendum.
But if the cabinet can stay united, finance minister Euclid Tsakalotos will draw up the details and send them winging to creditors. Germany expects them by midnight Thursday (although EC president Jean-Claude Juncker has suggested the finally final deadline is 8.30am Friday morning #whoosh).
The pressure on both sides to reach a deal is hitting new heights. Yesterday, the IMF and the US Treasury urged Athens and its lenders to reach a deal, and warned that Greece must be given debt relief.
Government spokesman Gabriel Sakellaridis has already been on TV today to insist that agreement can be reached.
Sakellaridis told Antenna TV this morning that:

“I am certain the agreement will pass Syriza’s parliamentary group, [and] the governing coalition.
The government is doing everything it can to reach an immediate deal and end this cycle of uncertainty.”

That certainty will be tested today, as we rattle towards a weekend of drama that could surpass anything seen in the last five years of the eurozone crisis.
If an acceptable plan isn’t drawn up in time, Sunday’s EU leaders summit will be about handling the fallout of Greece’s departure from the eurozone.
We’ll be tracking all the main events though the day....