Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has announced that banks in Greece will, indeed, not open on Monday,
Reports indicate that members of the Greek Financial Stability Council have recommended that the banks stay shut for a total of six days.
The significance of that recommendation is unclear, but all banks will be closed for at least tomorrow.
In his comments Tsipras said:
The recent decisions of the Eurogroup and ECB have only one objective: to attempt to stifle the will of the Greek people.
They will not succeed. The very opposite will occur: the Greek people will stand firm with even greater wilfulness.
In the coming days, what's needed is patience and composure. The bank deposits of the Greek people are fully secure.
The same applies to the payment of wages and pensions- they are also guaranteed.
In these critical hours, we must remember that the only thing to fear is fear itself.
In other words, Tsipars is going Hotel California here, Greek depositor money is safe but they can't have it.
Government wage earners and pensioners should also be concerned since Tsipars also declared that their payments are "safe."
-RW
What if this whole episode is for show - even a way to save face for Tsipras and his party while bowing to the bankers. Banks shut down for a week, the string pullers in Europe and Washington doing everything they can to disrupt economic life in Greece, actions taken that are far more draconian than necessary. No food on the shelves, no one gets paid, every day a different reason to limit or disallow cash withdrawals.
ReplyDeleteThen, next Sunday, or whenever, I wonder what the outcome of the referendum will be.
The Greek banking system hasn't just become a "Hotel California", it's become a Cockroach Hotel California.
ReplyDelete