Athens / LUXEMBOURG The European Central Bank (ECB) raised the emergency funding to Greek banks and savers took thousand 200 million euros in a single day on Friday, bankers said, but the prime minister, Alexis Tsipras insisted that the country’s future in the euro is safe.
With Athens closer to a default later this month, the leftist leader told its citizens to be shown that the prophets of the “crisis and terror” are confused because his government will negotiate with your creditors the European Union and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
However, EU officials said the finance ministers of the Eurozone on Monday discussed how to handle a default unless Athens submit new proposals for reforms and austerity that can convince your creditors to unblock aid from August.
President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, said no one should assume that the emergency summit on Monday will find a “magic bullet”.
Banking sources told Reuters that after the massive withdrawals of Friday, about 4000 EUR 200 million had come from Greek bank accounts this week despite the efforts of the Bank of Greece to restore calm.
“Today was a difficult day compared to yesterday (Thursday),” said one of the bankers. “It is likely that Monday is also hard.”
Those responsible for economic policy of the ECB rose for the second time in a week, the limit of the Emergency Liquidity Assistance, the lifeline that keeps afloat Greek banks to a fall in deposits in thousand 800 million euros, Greek officials said. Officials said the ECB shall review the limit again Monday night, after the leaders of the euro zone governments try to break the deadlock with Athens at its emergency meeting in Brussels.
Greece is close to skip the June 30 debt payment of 600 thousand million euros to the IMF, unless creditors resume funding. However, Tsipras exuded confidence and calm, before returning to Athens on Saturday after meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of an economic conference in St. Petersburg.
“It will be shown that all those who bet on crisis scenarios and terror is wrong,” Tsipras said in a statement released by his office while he is in Russia.
“There will be based on respect for EU rules and democracy that will allow Greece to return to growth in the euro solution,” he added.
Neither he nor Putin made mention of the Greek debt crisis in a joint appearance. A Kremlin statement said spoke of “trade and economic cooperation between the two parties,” but did not elaborate.
Germany, the largest contributor to European bailout programs, left open to the hope of an agreement at the summit on Monday door. “It is too late for that and, of course, we hope that such an agreement is possible,” said government spokesman Steffen Seibert in Berlin.
However, the German Finance Minister, Wolfgang Schaeuble, who has led a hard line against Athens, was less optimistic. “I’m not sure I can announce something sensational or again on Monday,” he told reporters.
The Bank of Greece, which warned that the country’s future in the euro and even the EU is at risk if the government fails to reach agreement with its creditors’ tried to assure its savers that the banking system remains stable.
The money has been leaving banks since Greece took the first bailout in 2010. But after a relative lull, withdrawals increased in recent months and accelerated abruptly this week.
The ECB has been gradually raising the amount of emergency funds available to the Bank of Greece, but the pace has increased as the crisis deepened.
The limit was raised earlier this week in a thousand 100 million euros, up to 84 000 100 million. Reuters
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