Greece, not again?

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The IMF's view is in any case complex. It has warned EU officials behind closed doors that it will not continue to take part in Greek loan programmes unless the creditors accept a serious reduction in Greece's public debt burden. While Greece's interest costs are just 2.5pc of GDP at the moment, they will jump to nearer 5pc in 2022 when the current debt deal expires. The country would then be bankrupt again with little to show for a decade of austerity and depression.

Syriza Left demands 'Icelandic' default as Greek defiance stiffens - Telegraph

Deposit outflows from the banks are running near €400m a day and could at any moment turn into a national bank run. This is alarming in one sense, but it has advantages for Syriza hard-liners. The immediate problem is landing in the lap of the European Central Bank, which has had to raise its emergency liquidity support (ELAs) for the Greek banks to €83bn. The ECB is ever further on the hook. While Greek citizens are hiding their money in mattresses or parking it in foreign accounts, the wealth still exists and could be used to replenish new banks in the future. "The more the deposit flight goes on, the easier Grexit will be," said one Syriza official. "It is a trump card," said another.

Syriza Left demands 'Icelandic' default as Greek defiance stiffens - Telegraph

Merkel would like Greece to remain in the euro. Not necessarily at any cost, but she's prepared to pay a high price. Schäuble is not. He is of the opinion that a Greek withdrawal from the euro zone is in Europe's best interests. Which of them is the more intransigent? Merkel, whose popularity serves as the backbone of the EU? Or Schäuble, for whom there is considerable good will among members of parliament, fed up as they are with having to approve one bailout package after another?

Finance Minister Schäuble and Merkel Tussle Over Grexit - SPIEGEL ONLINE

The status of negotiations between Greece and its official creditors – the European Commission, the ECB and the IMF – dominated headlines last week.  At the core of the negotiations is a simple question: How much of an adjustment has to be made by Greece, how much has to be made by its official creditors?

Greece: A Credible Deal Will Require Difficult Decisions By All Sides | iMFdirect - The IMF Blog