Stock market remains closed
Greek banks opened their doors Monday for the first time in over three weeks, a move that the government hopes will help the economy get back to normal following a period dominated by fears over the country’s future in the euro.
Still, strict controls on the amounts individuals can withdraw remain and new austerity taxes demanded by the country’s European creditors mean that most everyday items are more expensive — from coffee to taxis to cooking oil.
In downtown Athens, people queued up in an orderly fashion as the banks unlocked their doors at 8 a.m., but restrictions on most transactions remained.
Though the daily cash withdrawal limit stayed at 60 euros, the government has given individuals a new weekly limit of 420 euros from this coming Sunday so they don’t need to trudge to the ATM every day.
Ready cash is something Greeks will need as new taxes also came into effect on a wide array of goods and services Monday.
Sales taxes have risen from 13 per cent to 23 per cent on many basic goods — including some meats, cooking oils, coffee, tea, cocoa, vinegar, salt, flowers, firewood, fertilizer, insecticides, sanitary towels and condoms.
Popular services were also hit by the new taxes: restaurants and cafes, funeral homes, taxis, ferries, cram schools and language schools.
The new taxes are part of a package of confidence-building measures that the Greek government had to introduce in order for negotiations on a third bailout to begin.
Since the Greek parliament passed the measures, creditors have sought to relieve the pressure on Greece. The European Central Bank has raised the amount of liquidity assistance on offer to Greek banks while Greece’s partners in the 19-country eurozone agreed to give Athens a short-term loan so it wouldn’t default on a 4.2 billion-euro debt due to the ECB on Monday.
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