Official: Greek Banks to Reopen on Monday

Local Editor

Greece's Deputy Finance Minister Dimitris Madras said banks will reopen in the country on Monday, after the European Central Bank [ECB] agreed to increase emergency funds for Greek banks.

On Thursday, Mardas said banks would reopen across the country after being closed since June 29.

"From Monday, citizens can go to the bank counters and make any kind of transaction," Mardas said.

The minister also said that the government in Athens was now looking into allowing people to withdraw 60 euros per day or combine the amount over several days, after the ECB said it would increase bank funds by 900 million euros.

"If someone doesn't want to take 60 euros on Monday and wants to take it on Tuesday, for instance, he can withdraw 120 euros, or 180 on Wednesday," Madras added.

Though, Greek banks closed in a bid to prevent a bank run that would lead to the collapse of the country's banking system.

This came days after the Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras caved into an ultimatum by European lenders during a 17-hour-long summit in the Belgian capital Brussels, after months of failed negotiations.

The Greek parliament later adopted a set of reforms demanded by international creditors including severe austerity measures in exchange for receiving the third bailout portion worth USD 96 billion [86 billion euros] despite opposition from the public and some lawmakers.

On July 6, Yanis Varoufakis stepped down as Greek finance minister, after Greeks voted "No" in a referendum on the bailout deal.

Athens received two bailout packages in 2010 and 2012, worth a total of 240 billion euros [272 billion dollars], from the lenders - the European Commission, the International Monetary Fund [IMF] and the ECB - following the 2009 economic crisis in exchange for imposing tough austerity measures.

Last month, Greece defaulted on a two-billion-euro [USD three-billion] debt payment to the IMF and was at risk of being forced to leave the eurozone if it failed to reach a deal with its creditors over the debt crisis.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team