... "It is 50-50 whether the eurozone breaks up. The damage that break up would cause is so great, that I think that as people realise it, they will pull back from the brink," Soros told the Financial Times in an interview. "But we are at the brink now...a solution has to be found in a matter of days."

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"Greece is willing to take the steps and has taken steps which are necessary to get through this crisis. Now Europe has to do its part to help Greece through," he said.

"Unfortunately there are problems with Germany because it does not want to be the deep pockets helping out the profligate southerners which got into trouble. [But] if that is the case, the euro is in danger and the European union is in danger. I just hope that Germany will be helpful."

Soros, who famously made around a $1bn profits almost two decades ago by betting on sterling's exit from the Exchange Rate Mechanism, argued that "having a common currency was very sensible for a common market." However, he stressed that Europe now faced a test. "Is there the political will to keep Europe together? If there is not I think that there will be a process of disintegration."

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"Currency traders find it very difficult right now to speculate because public opinion is very much aroused. If I were running a hedge fund now I would be wary of making money because the political consequences would be too severe," he said. "I don't think that hedge funds are playing much of a role [in the current crisis] - it is not fertile ground. There is a kind of witch-hunt looking for someone who is profiting."