Billion Dollars Disappearing from Greek Banks Every Day

June 13, 2012 from Euronews

It is arguably one of the largest bank raids in the history of Greece. Analysts say up to 800 million euros (USD$1bn) are being taken from the country's banks on a daily basis. From cash machines accounts have been slowly drained as people react to fears the economy could leave the euro zone and the drachma restored as the country's currency following Sunday's election. It is not just cash it includes wire transfers and investments into other money markets. The drop in deposits has been dramatic. In two years up until May this year 50 billion euros (USD$63bn) have left accounts in Greek banks. In the last week its reported the pace of withdrawing money has risen sharply. Some of the money, claim retailers is being used by people to stock up on non perishable food while sales in almost all other goods have seen a huge drop. The head of the retail federation condemned the panic buying saying people are terrified at the prospect of returning to the drachma and believe filling their cupboards will help. It is over the top he said and does not mean Greece will escape the crisis.

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Greek general election, 2012

A legislative election was held on Sunday 6 May 2012 in Greece, to elect all 300 members to the Hellenic Parliament. Under the constitution, it was due to be held in late 2013, four years after the previous election; however, an early election was agreed under the November 201... Explore this topic

Greek government-debt crisis

The Greek government-debt crisis is one of a number of current European sovereign-debt crises and is believed to have been caused by a combination of structural weaknesses of the Greek economy coupled with the incomplete economic, tax and banking unification of the European Mo... Explore this topic

Greece

Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. According to the 2011 census, Greece's population is around 11 million. Athens is the nation's capital and largest city, its urban area also including Piraeus. Greece is strategically located at the cr... Explore this topic

European sovereign debt crisis

The European sovereign debt crisis is an ongoing financial crisis that has made it difficult or impossible for some countries in the euro area to repay or re-finance their government debt without the assistance of third parties. In 1992, members of the European Union signed th... Explore this topic

Eurozone

The eurozone, officially called the euro area, is an economic and monetary union of 17 European Union member states that have adopted the euro as their common currency and sole legal tender. The eurozone currently consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France,... Explore this topic

Economy of Greece

The economy of Greece is the 32nd or 37th largest in the world at $312 or $309 billion by nominal gross domestic product or purchasing power parity respectively, according to World Bank statistics for the fiscal year 2009–2010. Additionally, Greece is the 15th largest economy ... Explore this topic

Drachma

Drachma, pl. drachmae or drachmas was the currency used in Greece during several periods in its history: ⁕An ancient Greek currency unit found in many Greek city states from Classical times on, as well as in many of Alexander's successor states and South-West Asian kingdoms du... Explore this topic

Bank run

A bank run occurs in a fractional reserve banking system when a large number of customers withdraw their deposits from a financial institution at the same time and either demand cash or transfer those funds into government bonds or precious metals or a safer institution becaus... Explore this topic

Panic buying

Panic buying is an imprecise common use term to describe the act of people buying unusually large amounts of a product in anticipation of or after a disaster or perceived disaster, or in anticipation of a large price increase or shortage, as can occur before a blizzard or hurr... Explore this topic

ATM

An automated or automatic teller machine, also known as an automated banking machine, cash machine, cashpoint, cashline or hole in the wall, is a computerized telecommunications device that enables the clients of a financial institution to perform financial transactions withou... Explore this topic

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Greek general election, 2012

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