EUROZONE-GREECE/TSIPRAS/STATE MINISTER Greece says banks will open after deal with lenders

Record ID: 148645

  • Title: EUROZONE-GREECE/TSIPRAS/STATE MINISTER Greece says banks will open after deal with lenders
  • Date: 2nd July 2015
  • Summary: ATHENS, GREECE (JULY 2, 2015) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF GREEK PRIME MINISTER'S HOUSE EUROPEAN UNION AND GREEK FLAGS GREEK PRIME MINISTER, ALEXIS TSIPRAS', CAR ARRIVING AT HIS OFFICE TSIPRAS ENTERING OFFICE STATE MINISTER AND TOP AIDE TO TSIPRAS, NIKOS PAPPAS, TALKING TO MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (English) STATE MINISTER AND TOP AIDE TO GREEK PRIME MINISTER ALEXIS TSIPRAS, NIKOS PAPPAS
  • Embargoed: 17th July 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Greece
  • Country: Greece
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA9HV2WKAT419HJEASK8FF5O4P6
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Greek banks will reopen as soon as the country reaches an agreement with international creditors, which hopefully can be struck immediately after Sunday's referendum, a senior government official said on Thursday (July 2).
    Nikos Pappas, a state minister and top aide to Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, told journalists that the banking system would return to normal "the minute we have a clear result."
    "The banks of course will re-open as soon as we get an agreement. I am pretty confident that all sides realise how crucial things are and how important it is to reach an agreement quite soon," he said.
    "If the agreement is in sight, we hope, we feel and we would expect that normality in terms of liquidity for the Greek banks would be immediately restored."
    Pappas denied speculation that the government would impose a levy on bank deposits.
    "There is absolutely no reason and it is not an option, it is not something that we would ever consider. This should not happen and I think that the Greek government and the European Central Bank have the same position."
    Credit ratings agency Standard and Poor's has warned that Greece's economy would contract by another 20 percent within four years if the country made a distressed exit from the euro.
    Greek GDP has already shrunk by 25 percent since 2009, and more than a quarter of the workforce is unemployment, including more than one in two young people.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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