EUROZONE-GREECE/BANKS PENSIONS Greek pensioners queue for pensions as banks close to manage fallout

Record ID: 149051

  • Title: EUROZONE-GREECE/BANKS PENSIONS Greek pensioners queue for pensions as banks close to manage fallout
  • Date: 29th June 2015
  • Summary: ATHENS, GREECE (JUNE 29, 2015) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PEOPLE, MOSTLY PENSIONERS, QUEUING OUTSIDE BANKS VARIOUS OF MAN AT CASH MACHINE JOURNALISTS OUTSIDE BANK ENTRANCE ASKING BANK EMPLOYEE INSIDE THE BANK "Will the ATMs operate today?" / BANK EMPLOYEE CLOSING DOOR VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WAITING OUTSIDE BANKS (SOUNDBITE) (Greek) PENSIONER QUEUING OUTSIDE BANK, SAYING: "They said t
  • Embargoed: 14th July 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Greece
  • Country: Greece
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA3KP655SBRBIM5QYONZNEH7DNL
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: As capital controls come in to effect in Greece, retired residents went to collect their pensions on Monday (June 29) morning.
    Greece closed its banks and imposed capital controls on Sunday (June 28) to check the growing strains on its crippled financial system, bringing the prospect of being forced out of the euro into plain sight.
    Pensions are exempt from the controls, but some of the retired Greeks who went to collect their money on Monday morning found ATMs empty.
    "They said that today they will pay pensions. So I am here, and I am waiting," said one pensioner outside a bank.
    "They told us that on the 29th we will get paid. Why else would I be here?" said another.
    "I am here to get my pension, what else would I be doing here? Looking at the bank?" said pensioner Thanasis Sekleretis.
    Capital controls are likely to last for many months at least.
    For ordinary Greeks, cash withdrawals are limited to 60 euros per day.
    People are allowed to use their debit or credit cards for payments and transfers within Greece only, not abroad.
    Tourists and visitors with foreign bank issued cards are permitted but the finance minister could impose restrictions on those if liquidity was at risk.
    After bailout talks between the government and foreign lenders broke down at the weekend, the European Central Bank froze vital funding support to Greece's banks, leaving Athens with little choice but to shut down the system to keep the banks from collapsing.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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