(no subject)

[randomness]

Banks will not be opening in Greece on Monday morning.

If you didn't get your money out of Greek banks already, it's too late. Lisa Pollack of the FT tweeted two photos showing what happened when a friend tried first to withdraw €100, then went to another machine to try withdrawing €40.





From BBC coverage of the bank closure:

Greek banks are expected to stay shut until 7 July, two days after Greece's planned referendum on the terms it had been offered by international creditors for receiving fresh bailout money.

Greece's capital controls

• A maximum of €60 (£42; $66) can be withdrawn from an account in one day


• Overseas transfers of cash prohibited, except for vital, pre-approved commercial transactions.

Comments

[kissoflife.livejournal.com]

Wow. 'That's radioactive.' Good luck, Greece, on pulling it together.
Fun seeing the numberpad Greek letter sets too.

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

Fun seeing the numberpad Greek letter sets too.

I wondered if anyone reading would find that interesting! Glad you noticed/liked that. :)

[achinhibitor.livejournal.com]

I find it slightly incongruous that the keys are also labelled in English, but I guess English is the new Latin.

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

Sorry about the duplicate posts! LJ has been misbehaving lately.

[frotz.livejournal.com]

I suspect the first transaction was denied for being over the limit, and the second ATM was just out of cash, but who knows.

Oddly enough the last time I was in Greece the economy was having serious trouble, there were big demonstrations in Athens, and there were tight capital controls (including outbound X-rays of luggage at the airport looking for cash), but they were looking for drachmae. I've some temptation to be flippant about history repeating itself, but really with the drachma Greece could ultimately devalue and cope. Now they've a common currency without the common economy and they're screwed.

(I actually have some drachmae left, but I bet they won't use the same notes and I'm sure what I have has been devalued into nothing anyway.)

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

(I actually have some drachmae left, but I bet they won't use the same notes and I'm sure what I have has been devalued into nothing anyway.)

From http://www.bankofgreece.gr/Pages/en/Euro/drachma.aspx:

"The period during which the Bank of Greece exchanged drachma banknotes for euro expired on 1 March 2012."

There is a third-party dealer offering a really crappy rate on line, if you really care to change them: http://www.leftovercurrency.com/banknotes/greece/greek-drachmas.php

Any new currency (if any) which is introduced will unquestionably use different notes. You might have a small chance with the old coinage. Countries from Suriname to Zimbabwe have reintroduced old coins after changing their currencies but it's not at all common.

[frotz.livejournal.com]

Hey, if they keep the coinage, 2 drachmae will always be worth $0.25!

[achinhibitor.livejournal.com]

Greece does "FORMAT C:" on its financial system!