Indeed, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said today her country won’t consider Greece’s proposal before the referendum. Greece need only look to Argentina, effectively shut out of worldwide markets for more than a decade after it defaulted on around £58bn of debt in 2001-2002.
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Gary Jenkins, chief credit strategist at LNG Capital, said: “There has been lots of talk that this is not really a default”.
The worldwide pressure on Greece increased dramatically last night.
Juncker had expected an answer on that before midnight Monday, but round noon Tuesday, he was still waiting.
Mr Varoufakis hit back, telling British newspaper The Daily Telegraph Athens could seek legal action to stop the country being forced out of the Eurozone.
When asked if Greece will make the IMF payment today Varoufakis just said “No”, according to Channel 4 News.
Mr Tsipras was angered when the European Central Bank then refused to raise the limit placed on emergency funding for Greek banks. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with government regulations, didn’t reveal what was said.
The Greek administration of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras announced the national referendum plan abruptly in an attempt to draw concessions from the EU on the pretext of “the public’s will”. “It won’t be me”, he said in an interview on Greek state television as one of the biggest rallies seen in Athens in years was taking place. I can think of no depression, ever, that has been so deliberate and had such catastrophic consequences: Greece’s rate of youth unemployment, for example, now exceeds 60 percent.
Straight after the referendum call, in which the government is advocating a “no” vote, Greeks began rushing to ATM machines.
The focus was also on how popular opinion takes shape in Greece before the country holds a referendum on Sunday to vote on whether the terms set by creditors for a bailout were acceptable.
Stock markets across Europe trimmed earlier losses amid speculation that the Greek government is considering a last-minute effort by the head of the European Commission to break the deadlock between the country and its creditors.
However, the confidence of Greek ministers that they would be able to stay in the euro and EU in the event of a “no” vote contradicts statements from Brussels politicians yesterday.
“Deep down there is a sense that some sort of compromise will be reached before the deadline – it’s the eurozone way”, said David Madden, market analyst at IG. The government set new limits on pension payments as cash began running out and there were isolated reports of shoppers stocking up on medicine and baby formula.
Deputy Minister for Tourism Elena Kountouram said: “Greece still is and will always be a favourite destination for holidaymakers”.
The scale of the economic pain inflicted upon Greece by years of recession and strict austerity was evident in official figures showing unemployment in the country stood at 25.6 per cent in March. The ranks of the unemployed were major supporters of Syriza in its election victory earlier this year.
And, though the cost in terms of human suffering has been extremely high, the Greek government’s recent proposals went a long way toward meeting its creditors’ demands.
The show of defiance came at the end of a day that started with stunned Greeks waking up to face shuttered banks, long supermarket lines and overwhelming uncertainty over Greece’s future in the euro zone.
It said “the European economic and financial system is sufficiently robust to deal with possible adverse impacts” once the program ends.
The Greek Finance Ministry says it will open about 1,000 bank branches across the country for three days this week to allow pensioners without bank cards to make withdrawals – but for a total of just 120 euros ($134) for the week.
With Greece hours away from defaulting on a 1.6 billion euro loan from the worldwide Monetary Fund, the crisis has escalated quickly.
Greek media say the government is in talks over the offer, made by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker late on Monday.
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Thomas Oppermann, Kauder’s opposite number in the Social Democratic Party (SPD), struck a friendlier tone than his boss, vice-Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel, on Monday evening, saying that “after the referendum, of course the door will remain open”.
