“Mr Provopoulos told me there was no panic, but there was great fear that
could develop into a panic,” the minutes quoted the president as saying.
Greeks have been steadily withdrawing funds from banks for months, and there
has so far been no sign of queues at banks in Athens.
Opinion polls show that voters enraged over five years of recession, record
unemployment and steep wage cuts are likely to elect a parliament as
fragmented as the one they chose on May 6. But the vote, probably in
mid-June, may well tip the balance of power toward leftist parties opposed
to the bailout conditions.
Policymakers from European Union states and at the European Central Bank have
warned that they would stop sending debt-choked Athens the cash it needs to
stay afloat if a new government tears up the bailout.
Many Greek voters still hope they can stay in the euro without abiding by the
conditions imposed to obtain the bailouts, as promised by Alexis Tsipras,
the charismatic 37-year-old leader of Syriza.
“There is a bit of schizophrenia in our society right now. People want to stay
in Europe – have the cake – but they also want to eat it – by attacking the
creditors,” said Theodore Couloumbis at Athens-based think-tank ELIAMEP.
“Much depends on whether the Greek people in this repeat election are going to
vote with anger and passion or if they will cool off, reflect and see in
effect what the real choices are. The choice is between bad and worse.”
Party leaders will meet Papoulias at 10am GMT to put together a caretaker
government. It was not clear who would be part of that emergency cabinet,
whose main task would be to organise the repeat election – the third in
Greece in as many years.
Many in Greece pin their hopes on newly elected French President Francois
Hollande, who campaigned on a pro-growth platform. Socialist Hollande
offered some hope for more flexibility towards Greece on Tuesday, saying
after his first meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel:
“I hope that we can say to the Greeks that Europe is ready to add measures to
help growth and support economic activity so that there is a return to
growth in Greece.”
But despite encouraging comments from the conservative German leader about
wanting to see growth, differences remain over how far austerity programmes
might be relaxed.
IMF chief Christine Lagarde had earlier in the day joined a string of EU
policymakers who have over the past days lifted the taboo of openly
discussing the prospect of an exit of Greece from the euro zone. She said it
was important to be prepared for that possibility and warned that an exit
would be “quite messy”.
European shares fell to their lowest closing level since the start of 2012
after attempts to form a government collapsed. Traders said markets could
slump further in the coming days, with fears of a contagion to other
crisis-hit EU states including Spain and Italy sending the euro below $1.28.
Patience is also wearing thin among a number of EU policymakers exasperated by
the fact that a country which accounts for barely two percent of the euro
zone’s economy should drag the bloc back into a deep crisis yet again after
more than two years of roller-coaster crisis.
“The 16 other governments in the euro zone really are at the end of their
patience with Greece. There isn’t room or any willingness to move,” said one
official involved in talks over Greece at the European Commission. “The
decisions are really in Athens’ hands. But it doesn’t look good.” ($1 =
0.7828 euros)
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