Business Eurozone crisis How Greece could leave the eurozone – in five difficult steps

US bank Citigroup now reckons there is a 75% chance that Greece will pull out of the single currency within the next 18 months. This would set a precedent, and the eurozone could quickly unravel if other vulnerable members like Spain and Italy were to follow suit.

The fallout from a Greek exit would quickly wipe 20% off Greece's GDP, send inflation soaring to 40%-50%, and see Greece's debt-to-GDP ratio soaring over 200%, say analysts at French bank BNP Paribas.

Such predictions are obviously estimates – the actual outcome would depend on how large a devaluation Greece would take if it reverted to the drachma. Dawn Holland at UK thinktank the National Institute of Economic and Social Research expects a 50% fall in the value of the currency. By comparison, the Argentinian peso lost 70% in value after the country's bankruptcy a decade ago.

How Greece could leave the eurozone – in five difficult steps