One of the proposals in the letter sent by Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis to Greece’s international creditors was the use of students, housekeepers, and even tourists to serve as undercover tax inspectors. He said that they could be paid an hourly rate “on a strictly short-term, casual basis” for no more than two months.

“The very ‘news’ that thousands of casual ‘onlookers’ are everywhere, bearing audio and video recording equipment on behalf of the tax authorities, has the capacity to shift attitudes very quickly,” wrote Mr Varoufakis in the 11-page letter, sent on Thursday to Eurogroup Chief Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the eurozone’s chief negotiator, and obtained by the Financial Times.

Financial Times reports that the reaction from eurozone officials to the tourist plan was received with humor. They thought the proposal was hilarious and even laughed when they read it. “It’s quite hilarious, if it were not so tragic, that this is what a government in an industrialised country comes up with,” said one eurozone official involved in the talks.