Greek Banks Close, As Debt Crisis Deepens

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has announced a temporary closure of banks in the country, after the European Central Bank (ECB) said it would not increase additional emergency funding to the country.

In a statement, the prime minister said that the government will also start imposing capital controls ahead of the deadline on Tuesday, as the country needs to make a $1.8bn payment to the International Monetary Fund by Tuesday or risk defaulting on its obligations.

This was the agreement at a cabinet meeting by a gathering of Greece’s systemic stability council, called after Eurogroup, Eurozone finance ministers refused to extend its bailout beyond Tuesday.

Advertisement

However, officials said that ATMs will reopen on Monday afternoon, with daily withdrawal limit set at 60 euros ($66).

 

Urging calm, the prime minister assured citizens that their deposits are “totally safe”.
” Equally safe is the reimbursement of salaries and pensions,” he said.

He also stated that “Any difficulties that may arise must be dealt with, with calmness. The more calm we are, the sooner we will get over this situation.”

The government further clarified that Cash machine withdrawals with foreign bank cards will be permitted.

The measure is generally geared towards preventing Greek banks from collapsing under the weight of mass withdrawals following it’s failure to secure extra emergency funding for Greek lenders.

Leave a comment

Advertisement