Greece could descend into "riots and chaos" if it cannot strike a deal to secure its future in the euro, the governor of France's central bank has said.

Christian Noyer, who also sits on the board of the European Central Bank (ECB), one of Greece's 'troika' of creditors, made his comments to Europe 1 radio.

"The Greek economy is on the verge of catastrophe," he said.

On Wednesday, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras made an impassioned plea for a "sustainable" solution to the crisis in a speech to the European Parliament, but Greece has still yet to provide a comprehensive plan.

Athens did, however, submit a request for a new support programme from the European Stability Mechanism on Wednesday morning.

The request is to be discussed by officials from the eurogroup - the technical advisers working on a deal - rather than by eurozone finance ministers.