Greece should take "some very difficult steps" and it would be a challenge for the Greek Prime Minister to persuade his supporters to do so, according to US Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, who had a telephone conversation with Alexis Tsipras earlier today.

"Draghi is setting a counter," a senior bank representative told iefimerida.gr. He believes that this is the way for the European Central Bank to send a message for finding an immediate solution.

The continuous public statements by the Greek Minister of Finance often undermine the government efforts to reach an agreement rather than to facilitate them.

Greece could take this action only in the presence of a fair chance to come to agreement with the creditors. Otherwise, the failure to pay the loan could cause panic in the financial markets and a mass withdrawal of bank deposits in Greece.