The Greek government on Tuesday denied a bevy of same-day press reports, accompanied by an “echo chamber-effect” in social media, that capital controls would be imposed due to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak, according to naftemporiki.gr.
Relevant Development Minister Adonis Georgiadis referred to “fake news”, categorically ruling out such a prospect.
Greece’s last brush with capital controls came in late June 2015, when the then extreme leftist Tsipras government imposed the measure to avoid a bank run, hours after announcing a contentious and ultimately irrelevant referendum on institutional creditors’ terms.
The last vestiges of capital controls were removed several months ago by the current Mitsotakis administration.
On the contrary, Greek bank withdrawals up to 400 euros in cash on a daily basis must be done through an ATM machine and not through a teller, the Hellenic Bank Association (HBA) said, introducing measures to discourage in-person transactions at banks as of Tuesday (March 24), during the coronavirus pandemic.
Likewise, deposits to personal accounts of up to 1,000 euros will be handled by ATMs.
Among other temporary regulations, tellers will not accept payment of utilities or to third parties. These must be carried out online, through ATMs with the specific functions, or through the APS machines in the bank branches.
“There is absolutely no limit to the free withdrawals of cash, and customers will be able to withdraw any amounts they wish from their bank accounts,” otherwise, the Association clarified.
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