While there is no legal mechanism to directly force Greece out of the eurozone, it could end up as a zombie member with no euros, analysts say. Yields on debt from Italy, Spain and Portugal all fell and the euro weakened 0.8 percent to below $1.106.
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The global Monetary Fund (IMF) has defended its refusal to let Greece delay a payment, contending that agreeing to Athens’s request would not have alleviated the debt-burdened nation’s distress, Efe news agency reported. The Financial Times complained that Tsipras is “wielding” an “unjustified… referendum as a weapon against his Eurozone adversaries”, and counseled Greek voters to “listen closely to the words of Ms. Merkel”.
That’s to stop people from withdrawing all their cash, which the banks couldn’t possibly honor.
Stock markets, however, rebounded Wednesday amid hopes that a deal could still be struck to keep Greece in the eurozone. Its last bailout program expired on the same day, giving it no access to any emergency funds whatsoever.
All I know is that we are all going mad here, said Anisia Kaklamanou, among those waiting to get into a bank in central Athens.
He insisted that banks would reopen “the minute we get a clear result”, although bankers are increasingly sceptical that this will be possible by Tuesday unless the European Central Bank lifts the ceiling on emergency funding it provides.
The question on Sundays ballot is whether voters accept or reject a reform proposal made by creditors during negotiations last week.
Polls suggest it’s too close to call.
On Sunday then it will fall to the Greek people to decide an issue that their government was unable to settle in months of acrimonious negotiations with their European partners.
Election rallies set for Friday may help sway the poll. They expired Tuesday along with the bailout.
European Commission Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis told a news conference there was no easy way out of the crisis and the referendum result had widened the gap between Greece and other euro zone countries. Some 31 percent say they are anxious about the cohesion of the European Union, while 24 percent are concerned about the consequences that such a possibility might have for the German economy.
And finance minister Yanis Varoufakis said he would not continue to serve as minister if Greeks vote to accept the conditions of an global bailout.
It could also determine whether Greece becomes the first country to crash out of the 19-nation European single currency area, membership of which is meant to be irrevocable.
Mr Dijsselbloem told reporters the euro zone countries were still prepared to help Greece in the event of a “Yes” vote.
Some European officials have said the Greek referendum amounts to a vote on whether to stay in the euro.
Varoufakis has urged Greek people to vote “no” in the referendum, laying out a six-point argument on his personal blog to explain why the Syriza-led government recommends a voting “no”.
Two ex- Greek prime ministers, who oversaw the country’s descent into austerity policies, Kostas Karamanlis and Antonis Samaras of the right-wing New Democracy party, have both separately urged Greeks to vote yes. “Please back us”, he said. The queues are nothing next to all the suicides, the soup kitchens and the homeless on the streets of Athens..
Varoufakis said in a Bloomberg Television interview in Athens that he would “rather cut my arm off” than sign a deal that fails to restructure Greece’s debt.
“We are committed to avoid a catastrophe for Greece and difficulties for Europe and France”, Sapin said.
“One illusion must be swept from the table: that if the outcome is negative then everything can be renegotiated and you will end up with an easier and more attractive package”, said Mr Dijsselbloem, who is also Dutch finance minister.
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Varoufakis had a particularly acrimonious relationship with Germany’s Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble. Because 90 per cent of the money they have lent Greece in successive “bailouts” goes straight back to the German and French banks that financed Greece’s 10-year party on borrowed money.
