Fra Guardian:
Harris Georgiades, Cyprus’s finance minister, is telling Bloomberg TV now that he hopes Greece’s capital measures will be temporary, adding:
I am very concerned for the Greek people, and I still hope there can be a way out from this very difficulty situation.
But a former deputy governor of Cyprus’s central bank, Spyros Stavrinakis, has warned that reopening the banks will be hard.
Stavrinakis lived through the 2013 Cyprus crisis, in which capital controls were imposed for almost two years.
He says:
“Once you impose capital controls, you immediately send a message that there is something wrong withe the banking sector”
It is very difficult to phase down and unwind capital controls, once they are imposed, Stavrinakis adds.
British tourists visiting Greece can still enjoy a “smooth and fun” stay, claims the Greek government.
It has issued a statement that reminds us that foreigners will not be hit by capital controls; in an attempt to prevent worried holidaymakers going elsewhere.
Vangelis Kotsos, the president of Chania’s petrol station owners, has just called for calm on the state-run TV channel, ERT 1:
“Panic is mounting, for example I opened at 7:30am and by 10am I had sold the amount (of gas) that I would normally sell by tomorrow afternoon.
But I foresee that soon things will normalised, more reserves will be brought in.”
“Siege mentality” setting in around Greece
There have been scenes of panic in northern Greece where pensioners have reportedly fainted outside banks in Salonika.
From Athens, Helena Smith reports:
Reports of panic outside banks, in supermarkets and at petrol stations are now coming through thick and fast. Pensioners, waiting outside closed banks in Salonika, collapsed when it became apparent that the lenders weren’t going to open and they would not be getting their monthly allowance.
An announcement may come later today:
In Crete, gas stations were also forced to close after running out of petrol.
Vangelis Kotsos, president of gas station owners in Chania, said around 50% of gas stations had now run dry and described scenes of chaos as nervous Greek motorists (and presumably visiting tourists) flocked to gas stations to fill up.
“A lot have been coming in carrying cans so they have extra reserves.”
I have been getting word from friends around the capital of panic in supermarkets now being stampeded by consumers worried that stocks will run out.
“Mayhem in Carrefour Kolonaki,” said one text, referring to Greece’s upmarket district above Syntagma Square.
Panicked buyers were snapping up everything in sight, not least staple foods such as sugar and flour.
By mid-morning it has become clear that a siege mentality appears to have taken hold of Greeks following the shock announcement of the closure of banks and imposition of capital controls.
