Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras‘ surprise call for a referendum on the outcome of Greece’s bailout talks with creditors led anxious Greeks to line up outside banks to withdraw cash from ATMs on Saturday. According to reports, the amount of money that seems to have fled from the ATMs just today is estimated to be around 1 billion euros.
People started flocking to cash machines across Greece just after 1 am local time. Line lengths and the availability of cash varied. The Bank of Greece (BoG) assured in a Saturday afternoon statement that the flow of cash to ATMs will not be interrupted.
About 50 people, most visibly anxious, were waiting early in the morning outside a Piraeus Bank branch in downtown Athens, one of few that opens on Saturdays. When they found out it wouldn’t open after all, an elderly woman in the queue fainted.
SYRIZA MPs rush to pull out their money from ATMs
While the government advises the public to remain calm, explaining there is no reason to pull their money out of the banks, SYRIZA MPs were lined up in front of the parliament’s ATM machines to withdraw cash. Among those were Deputy Culture Minister Nikos Xydakis, SYRIZA MEP Chara Kafantari and her colleagues Rachel Makris and Costas Lapavitsas, as well as SYRIZA parliamentary representative Nikos Filis.
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