Greek crowdfunding page reaches €1.5m

An attempt to crowdfund Greece's overdue €1.6 billion ($1.8bn; £1.1bn) debt repayment has passed the €1.5 million mark.

It has taken just over two days and nearly 90,000 donations to generate that amount, which is still less than a thousandth of the sum needed.

It is also a drop in the ocean of Greece's total debt to its creditors, which stands currently at €340 billion.

The campaign was set up by Thom Feeney, a 29-year-old London shoe shop worker.

Mr Feeney, who has no personal connection to Greece, told the BBC on Tuesday that the campaign was "not a joke".

"There was all this waiting around, dithering from European politicians," he said.

"I just thought it would be nice for the people to go, 'Come on we can sort this'."

The 86,848 who had attempted to help him sort it by the time of writing made an average contribution of €17.29.

But they are likely to see their money again - should the campaign fail to reach its goal of €1.6 billion within a week, they will all get a refund.

The campaign has generated a huge amount of media interest but seems unlikely to save Greece's troubled economy.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) - which is owed 10% of Greece's debt - said on Thursday that the country needed an extra €50 billion over the next three years to stabilise its finances.

The IMF also cut its forecast for Greek economic growth from 2.5% to zero.

The people of Greece will vote in a referendum on Sunday on whether to accept or reject the existing terms of the country's bailout.