Greek people, not Syriza, will achieve a breakthrough in the crisis

Goldman Sachs may be right: a technical default by Greece, creating even more pressure on its banking system, may be necessary to encourage a deal

Greece's latest "crunch" week - a a300m payment is due by Friday to the International Monetary Fund - started in familiar confused fashion. At the weekend, Alexis Tsipras, the Greek prime minister, blamed creditors' "absurd proposals" for the failure to reach a deal to release bailout cash, arguing that eurozone hardliners wanted to create a "two-speed Europe."

Then Greece's new representative at the IMF withdrew from the job under pressure from MPs within the ruling Syriza party. Despite all that, there was brief excitement when it was rumoured that a funding and reform package was set to be announced within hours. Naturally, nothing materialised.