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Feature: Finnish tourists fly to Greece with cash, as ATMs in Greece shut down

Xinhua, June 29, 2015 Adjust font size:

Holiday makers took off at the Helsinki-Vantaa airport for destinations in Greece as usual, only their pockets and wallets were unusually full of cash as ATMs were reportedly empty and the use of credit cards could be difficult.

The suggestion of taking cash along the journey appeared in a travel advisory of the Finnish Foreign Ministry this past week.

Greek islands are popular summer destinations for Finnish travellers. Very few cancellations were reported by the tourist industry after the decision of the European Central Bank on Sunday to continue emergency funding to Greece banks but not to increase it.

Commenting on the situation, the chief analyst of the Finnish Nordea Bank Jan von Gerich told national broadcaster Yle that controls of withdrawals from bank accounts in Greece are likely.

Jan von Gerich said the ECB had to continue to finance the banks as otherwise it would have become a political decision maker.

"If the ECB had decided on Sunday to close down the flow of money to Greece, it would have been an indication that talks had taken place at the political level without publicity," von Gerich said.

"But the impression is that the highest political level in Europe still wants to keep Greece in the euro-zone," he added.

The chief economist of the Danske Bank Pasi Kuoppamaki described the situation as chaotic farce. He told the newspaper Keskisuomalainen that the ECB is not willing to trigger the collapse of the payment system in Greece and a day or two is given to sort out the situation, Kuoppamaki commented.

The chief economist of the Finnish Aktia Bank Anssi Rantala said the coming week will be difficult for the professional investor as there may be fluctuations in the interest rates and stock values. But normal Finnish housing loans are usually tied with the EURIBOR rate and that reflects the trust in the European banking system.

"The European banking system has been well protected against any domino effect," he said.

Talking to Finnish news agency STT-Lehtikuva, Rantala reminded that firewalls have been built in recent years to avoid the spreading of an economic crisis through banks and financial markets to other countries.

In 2008 the EURIBOR rate rose as trust between banks vanished, but such a development is unlikely now, Rantala said. Endit