Sunday’s critical referendum approaches, where the Greek people will called upon to vote as to whether they accept or reject a creditor proposal. The government has urged the Greek people to vote ‘no’, in order to renegotiate a better deal, however the ‘yes’ camp, which is supported by many of the opposition parties, claims that this would jeopardize the country’s membership in the Eurozone.
Friday evening say huge rallies were held by both sides in Athens and other major cities across Greece. The Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras appeared in Syntagma Square, where he urged Greeks to vote ‘no’ on Sunday. Public opinion polls released on Friday indicated that it will be a neck and neck race. Following the introduction of capital controls, bank have remained shut all week, with depositors allowed to withdraw a maximum of 60 euros per day from ATM machines. Pensioners without bank cards were allowed to withdraw 120 euros from about 1,000 banks that opened for this purpose.
A Financial Times report on Friday revealed emergency plans of a 30% haircut on Greek bank accounts with more than 8,000 euros. This plan would come into effect, provided an agreement is reached with the ECB, IMF and European Commission. In the Cypriot financial crisis of 2013 a similar haircut was carried out, for bank accounts with more than 100,000 euros. With Greek depositors however having siphoned their savings in recent months, few accounts reportedly remain in Greek banks with such sums.
The Greek Ministry of Finances denounced the report and underlined that it aimed to undermine and effect the outcome of Sunday’s critical referendum. The President of the Greek banking union and National Bank of Greece Louka Katseli also categorically denied the report.
On Saturday morning Mrs. Katseli appeared on Mega Channel and explained that any decisions regarding the capital controls would be taken on Monday, following any decisions by the European Central Bank. She estimated that there was a good chance of bank branches opening again on Tuesday or Wednesday, after the caps on withdrawals have been determined. Mrs. Katseli stressed that it was important to remain calm.
The Minister of Finances Yanis Varoufakis accused Greece’s international creditors of truing to “instill fear in people” ahead of the referendum, in order to force a ‘yes’ vote on Sunday. Mr. Varoufakis, who spoke to the Spanish El Mundo newspaper, argued that the so-called troika wanted to humiliate the Greek people.
