In a meeting on Friday, the Bank of Greece (BoG) along with Greek government representatives agreed to give businesses a breath of air.
Many imports to Greece have been held up as Greek businesses have been unable to pay them due to capital controls on money transactions.
Capital controls have cost the Greek economy an estimated three billion euros. The inability to import raw materials has reportedly hurt farmers who cannot import fertilizers for their crops. Furthermore, imported meat is often not being delivered to supermarkets and local meat sellers, according to reports.
In Friday’s meeting it was decided that the banks will now be the ones approving transactions to imports up to 100,000 euros, instead of the previous 50,000 euros. For payments that surpass the 100,000 euro mark, the Approval Committee for Banking Transactions of the General Accounting Office will decide on transactions.
Greek Economy Minister Giorgos Stathakis said that only 25-30% of transactions will be monitored by this Committee, leaving the rest to the banks’ discretion.
“Our goal is to achieve a complete normalization of imports and deflect all the effects of the capital controls imposition,” he said.
BoG Governor Giannis Stournaras said that things are moving along satisfactorily and he expects that the problems of Greek businesses will be solved within the next 10 days.
Greek Deputy Finance Minister Dimitris Mardas said that there will be an official Ministerial decree announced later on Friday about the latest restrictions on businesses.
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