Greece: closed banks and shock referendum
29/06/2015
Greece has seen closed banks and defunct cash machines as a break down in talks between Athens and its creditors pushed the country further into austerity.
Greece has not received any extra emergency funding from the European Central Bank, and Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has imposed capital controls on Sunday night to prevent banks from collapsing under the weight of the mass withdrawals it has faced.
The International Monetary fund has given Greece 48 hours to pay back 1.6 billion euros; otherwise a default could be issued, which could lead to the countries eventual exit from the Euro currency bloc.
Tsipras has angered Greece’s international lenders by announcing a snap referendum on the terms of a cash-for-reforms deal, which has lead to heightened tensions and the hopes of a last minute deal seem to be fading.
The government will keep banks closed until the 5th July, the day of the referendum. The public will only be able to withdraw 60 Euros a day from cash machines when they reopen on Tuesday.
Stock markets in Europe and Asia have seen big falls since Greece closed its banks. Londons FTSE 100 fell 2% in early trade, and Japan’s Nikkei index fell nearly 3%. Elsewhere in Europe, Germany's Dax share index and France's Cac 40 were both down more than 3%. The Athens Stock Exchange is closed all week.
Need financial advice?
If you have any personal finance questions related to this news article, then please contact our financial advisers. You can get in touch by asking a question online, calling us on 0800 092 1245, or by arranging a visit.
Share this..
Related stories
Was self regulation behind the weakening UK economy?
As the UK government and regulators look to the future, more and more people are looking back over the last 10 years trying to identify how the UK economy was so exposed to the worldwide economic downturn. Despite assurances by the government and the regulators that everything possible was done to avoid such a situation, the subject of self-regulation has risen its head on a number of occasions.
Scottish economy on a knife edge
Despite the fact that the Scottish economy, like others in the UK, exited the recession in the final quarter of 2009 there is no doubt that the economy is struggling. Ahead of what could be significant public-sector spending cuts, and significant job losses in this area, there has been a sustained reduction in business confidence and consumer confidence. When you also take into account the fact...
Read MoreGDP figures indicate recovery could take some time
GDP figures released for the UK economy today show a 0.8% fall in the second quarter of 2009 which is significantly higher than the 0.3% contraction expected by analysts. While the fall is less than the 2.4% in the first quarter of 2009 it does bring the annual decline to a massive 5.6% and underlines the fact that the UK economy is in crisis.
Despite the fact that the UK government...
Is today the day for an interest rate reduction?
Today is D-Day for the UK economy with high hopes that the Bank of England will reduce interest rates by up to 1% to try and kick start the UK. While the Bank of England have been fairly quiet over the last few days just a short time ago they did indicate that perhaps interest rates have not fallen quickly enough in the UK so far.
This is the strongest indication yet that we are ent...
Should the UK government be depending on overseas partners?
Ever since Barack Obama came to power in the US there has been a feeling that Gordon Brown was looking to hang on to his coat tails and ensure the UK economy would benefit from any move in the US. However, Gordon Brown was somewhat caught off guard when Barack Obama inserted a number of "buy American" clauses in the various rescue packages. This is effectively a strong form of protectionism which...
Read More