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2nd LD Writethru: Greek gov't says banks shut until July 6

Xinhua, June 29, 2015 Adjust font size:

Greek banks will stay closed before July 6, one day after a planned referendum on bailout proposals, and ATM withdrawals will be limited to 60 euros (65 U.S. dollars) a day per bank card in the same period, the government said early Monday.

The announcement was made in a decree published in the official government gazette in the small hours of the day and entitled "Bank Holiday break".

The decree on capital controls, signed by both President Prokopis Pavlopoulos and Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, lists the measures imposed on financial institutions lasting from Sunday to July 6.

It said it was out of "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 to refuse the extension of the loan agreement with Greece."

However, foreign visitors, who are currently in Greece or planning to visit Greece, will not be affected by the daily cash limit, as long as their debit/credit cards have been issued abroad, the announcement said.

Electronic transactions using credit or debit cards and other electronic payment methods, such as web banking and phone banking, will not be affected as well. But transfers abroad will require approval from a Ministry of Finance commission.

The Greek government's decision was made during a cabinet meeting on Sunday night after the breakdown of negotiations over a cash agreement with creditors last week and Tsipras' call for a referendum on bailout proposals.

During the weekend, Eurogroup finance ministers rejected Greece's request for an extension of its bailout program, saying financial support to Greece will end on Tuesday as agreed in February.

On Sunday, the European Central Bank (ECB) also announced that it would keep the emergency liquidity for Greece at the current level.

Tsipras accused the creditors again of "blackmailing" Greeks and expressed confidence that on forthcoming Sunday, citizens will vote "No" to the lenders' offer.

Analysts and citizens who queued to withdraw cash from ATMs during the weekend were concerned that by the next weekend Greece will be a bankrupt country heading to Grexit soon.

On Tuesday, the extension of Greece's second bailout will expire. On the same day, Athens needs to repay some 1.5 billion euros (1.69 billion U.S. dollars) of loan installments to the International Monetary Fund. Endi