Early on Monday morning, the Greek prime minister, Alex Tsipras, published a decree in the official government gazette setting out the capital controls to be imposed on the country.
The decree – entitled ‘Bank Holiday break’ – was signed by Tsipras and president Prokopis Pavlopoulos.
It cited “the extremely urgent and unforeseen need to protect the Greek financial system and the Greek economy due to the lack of liquidity caused by the Eurogroup’s decision on June 27 to refuse the extension of the loan agreement with Greece”.
Here are its key measures:
All banks shut until 6 July
All Greek banks – including branches of foreign banks – will remain closed until after the referendum on the bailout proposals. The government says they will reopen on Tuesday 7 July.
ATM withdrawals limited to €60 a day
Cash machine withdrawals will be capped until 6 July. Many machines are already reported to have run out of bank notes, although the government said ATMs should “operate normally again by Monday noon at the latest”.
The €60 limit is per bank card. The limit can be changed by the finance minister.
Foreign bank cards excepted from controls
People using a credit or debit card issued in a foreign country will not be affected by the limits on ATM withdrawals. Thousands of foreign tourists currently staying in Greece could still be affected by cash machines running dry, however, and the finance minister could yet set withdrawal limits here too.
Stock exchange closed on Monday
The Athens stock exchange will not open on Monday.
Pensions and wages ‘unaffected’
Pension payments will be exempt from the bank transaction restrictions, while there will be “no problem for wages paid electronically into bank accounts”, the statement said.
