Search This Blog

May 30, 2011

Greek depositors panic while protests grow

Starting early this morning there is a serious pressure on Greek's bank deposits, especially small amounts. The pressure on banks began last Wednesday, culminating yesterday.
Thursday and Friday withdrawals according  to banking sources rose to around 1.5 billion euros in total.
The majority of depositors withdrawing were pensioners and small savers with amounts ranging from 2-3000 up to 10 -15 000 euros. Motivation in most cases it was the fear that country was heading into bankruptcy.

In the meanwhile it seems Europe is going to take complete control of Greece if proposal is passed:

The Financial Times reports Greece set for severe bail-out conditions European leaders are negotiating a deal that would lead to unprecedented outside intervention in the Greek economy, including international involvement in tax collection and privatisation of state assets, in exchange for new bail-out loans for Athens.

Officials think Greece will be unable to return to the financial markets to raise money on its own in March – as originally planned in the current €110bn package – meaning that the IMF is now forbidden from distributing any additional cash. Without the IMF funds, eurozone governments would either be forced to fill the gap or Athens could default. 
In the meanwhile the social bomb is ready to explode:

More than 30,000 Greeks in Athens take center inspired by the protests of Spain Some 30,000 people, police said, have gone to the streets Sunday in Athens to protest the Greek political class. The demonstration has been called through social networks, as in Spain, and the participants cited the movement as a reference 15M.

"We've had enough. The politicians are laughing at us. If things continue like this, our future will be very hard," said one of demonstrators gathered outside the headquarters of the Greek Parliament in Syntagma Square, while his teammates chanted "Thieves, thieves!".

No comments: