Greek banks opened their doors yesterday for the first time in more than three weeks, a move that the government hopes will help the economy get back to normal following a period dominated by fears over the country’s future in the eurozone.
Strict controls on the amounts individuals can withdraw remain and new austerity taxes demanded by the country’s European creditors mean that most everyday items are more expensive — from coffee to taxis to cooking oil.
In downtown Athens, people lined up in an orderly fashion as the banks unlocked their doors at 8am, but restrictions on most transactions remained.
Ready cash is something Greeks will need, as new taxes also came into effect on a wide array of goods and services yesterday.
Sales taxes have risen from 13 percent to 23 percent on many basic goods — including some meats, cooking oil, coffee, tea, cocoa, vinegar, salt, flowers, firewood, fertilizer, insecticides, sanitary towels and condoms.
Popular services were also hit by the new taxes: restaurants and cafes, funeral homes, taxis, ferries, cram schools and language schools.
The new taxes are part of a package of confidence-building measures that the Greek government had to introduce in order for negotiations on a third bailout to begin.
Since the Greek parliament passed the measures, creditors have sought to relieve the pressure on Greece. The European Central Bank (ECB) has raised the amount of liquidity assistance on offer to Greek banks, while Greece’s partners in the eurozone agreed to give Athens a short-term loan so it would not default on a 4.2 billion euro (US$4.55 billion) debt due to the ECB yesterday.
Mina Andreeva, a spokeswoman at the European Commission, yesterday confirmed that the 7.16 billion euro three-month loan has been sent to Athens so it can repay the ECB and also clear its arrears with the IMF.
Andreeva said she was confident Greece would make the payments “in the course of today.”
Paying off the IMF and ECB will give Greece some breathing room, but the country will need to secure the bailout, which is expected to be worth about 85 billion euros, to meet upcoming debts.
After months of negotiations with creditors, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras agreed last week to accept a series of demands such as pension cuts and sales tax hikes, in order for the bailout discussions to begin.
“The government was obliged to make a tactical retreat to save the country,” new Greek Minister for Labor and Social Solidarity Georgios Katrougalos said yesterday. “This was the result of a soft, post-modern financial coup that was handled by the prime minister in a responsible way.”
Getting the Greek economy back to normal will take time, especially as credit remains restricted.
Greek Banking Association chair Louka Katseli yesterday said it was too early to say how long the cash controls would last.
Katseli noted that since 2008, 124 billion euros of deposits has been withdrawn from Greek banks and that 40 billion euros of that money has been removed in the past few months.
“If that had not been removed, the Greek banks would not have had a liquidity problem,” she said.
‘UPHOLDING PEACE’: Taiwan’s foreign minister thanked the US Congress for using a ‘creative and effective way’ to deter Chinese military aggression toward the nation The US House of Representatives on Monday passed the Taiwan Conflict Deterrence Act, aimed at deterring Chinese aggression toward Taiwan by threatening to publish information about Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials’ “illicit” financial assets if Beijing were to attack. The act would also “restrict financial services for certain immediate family of such officials,” the text of the legislation says. The bill was introduced in January last year by US representatives French Hill and Brad Sherman. After remarks from several members, it passed unanimously. “If China chooses to attack the free people of Taiwan, [the bill] requires the Treasury secretary to publish the illicit
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
A senior US military official yesterday warned his Chinese counterpart against Beijing’s “dangerous” moves in the South China Sea during the first talks of their kind between the commanders. Washington and Beijing remain at odds on issues from trade to the status of Taiwan and China’s increasingly assertive approach in disputed maritime regions, but they have sought to re-establish regular military-to-military talks in a bid to prevent flashpoint disputes from spinning out of control. Samuel Paparo, commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, and Wu Yanan (吳亞男), head of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Southern Theater Command, talked via videoconference. Paparo “underscored the importance
CHINA POLICY: At the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China, the two sides issued strong support for Taiwan and condemned China’s actions in the South China Sea The US and EU issued a joint statement on Wednesday supporting Taiwan’s international participation, notably omitting the “one China” policy in a departure from previous similar statements, following high-level talks on China and the Indo-Pacific region. The statement also urged China to show restraint in the Taiwan Strait. US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and European External Action Service Secretary-General Stefano Sannino cochaired the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China and the sixth US-EU Indo-Pacific Consultations from Monday to Tuesday. Since the Indo-Pacific consultations were launched in 2021, references to the “one China” policy have appeared in every statement apart from the
RSS