Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and cabinet members do not know when banks will reopen, despite the fact that the Greek government had announced that banks will open on Tuesday, July 7, after Sunday’s referendum.
Speaking on GreekĀ television, TsiprasĀ said that if the referendum result is a “No” to the creditors’ bailout agreement, he will have a better ability to renegotiate and bring back an improved agreement within two days. However, he did not say when banks will reopen.
Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis toldĀ BBC news that banks will open on Tuesday, certain that by July 7 Greece will have a deal with creditors.
State Minister Nikos Pappas avoided to give an answer to reporters when banks will open, saying that this will depend whether a deal is signed or not.
The European Central Bank (ECB) has stopped providing liquidity to Greek banks on June 28, two days before the bailout program expired. The central bank is expecting the results of Sunday’s referendum in order to decide if it will keep infusing cash to Greek banks through the Emergency Liquidity Assistance (ELA) scheme.
Josef Bonnici, a member of the ECB board of directors, said that “this will depend on Greece’s decision,” adding that the ECB cannot provide emergency liquidity to Greece ad infinitum.
See all the latest news from Greece and the world at Greekreporter.com. Contact our newsroom to report an update or send your story, photos and videos. Follow GR on Google News and subscribe here to our daily email!
