The Greek Tragedy - The End Game

The long running Greek tragedy is now entering the "end game".

Today (16:00 GMT) Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou will hold a conference call with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy to discuss the shambles that is the Greek economy.

In effect they are discussing how to ensure that the forthcoming Greek default, and expected exit from the Euro, can be handled in an "orderly" manner.

The French government has sated that it will do everything possible to support Greece. However, rather perversely, it has also sated that it will make no statement after the conference call.

What does this mean?

It means that the French do not expect anything tangible to come from the call, other than an admission between the three countries that Greece is going to default and that it will have to leave the Euro.

This is clearly not something that the French can comment on, as it is up to Greece to make the official announcement (possibly this evening after the markets have closed or early tomorrow before they open).