After three weeks of financial purgatory, retail banks reopened in Greece on Monday. Withdrawal limits at ATMs remain, but more can be taken out at once. Plus, Greeks will finally be able to get into their safety deposit boxes.
Economist Vicky Pryce of the Centre for Economics and Business Research in London joined us to talk about what this means to Greek pensioners — Click the media player above to hear more.
And from our partners at the BBC:
Athens reached a cash-for-reforms deal aimed at avoiding a debt default and an exit from the eurozone.
But many restrictions remain and Greeks also face price rises with an increase in Value Added Tax (VAT).
Queues at ATMs have been a feature of life in Greece for weeks, with people waiting in line each day to withdraw a maximum of $66 a day, a restriction imposed amid fears of a run on banks.
From Monday, the daily limit becomes a weekly one, capped at $460, meaning Greeks will not have to queue every day.
An architect told the BBC that the banks reopening will make only a small difference to his ability to operate.
“The key challenge is that we cannot pay our suppliers, which means that we will eventually run out of products to sell,” Vassilis Masselos told the BBC World Service’s Newsday program.
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