ATMs run dry, banks closed as panic rises in cash-strapped Greece

THEY are being told not to panic, but with only enough money to last them the week, millions in Greece are living in a state of fear.

THEY have only enough money to last the week, but the message from their government is “Don’t panic”.

That’s easier said than done for the millions of people living on a knife edge in Greece who woke yesterday to the day dubbed “Black Monday”.

ATMs have run dry across the country and bank staff have gone home for the foreseeable future, branches locked up behind aluminium shutters.

People continue to queue at cash machines hoping to withdraw more than their allocated share; a 60 euro daily limit has been imposed on every citizen, regardless of their status.

A woman waits outside a closed bank to receive her pension in Athens. Picture: Petros Giannakouris / AP

Tourists are being urged to reconsider visiting the historic wonders of the Acropolis in Athens or the clear blue waters of Mykonos. If they do visit, it must be on a “cash only” basis, according to the British Foreign Office.

The cash freeze is expected to last until July 5, but that’s too long for most people who’ve become accustomed to the security of accessing their own money when and where they like.

“I have a baby to feed, what am I supposed to do?’ said secretary Zoe Kallis, 32.

She tried and failed three times to remove money from her account at an empty ATM in the wealthy Kolonaki district, according to AFP.

“I’m worried, of course we are all extremely worried,” a man named Iason, 25, told the Guardian.

“No money, no hope, how did we get in this situation? This is Black Monday,” said Chris Bakas, 28 and unemployed.

Those who do have jobs are struggling too. In the fish markets in Athens, a worker holds his head in his hands in a vision of abject despair. There’s nobody around. It’s a lonely picture in a place where suicide rates were already through the roof before the country lurched ever closer to the precipice.

A lonely scene at a central Athens fish market. Picture: Angelos Tzortzinis / AFP

Across the capital, the scene is anything but lonely. Defiant demonstrators walk shoulder-to-shoulder, holding banners and flags, in opposition to an austerity plan aimed at clawing Greece out of debt.

That plan, according to protesters, is akin to being held to ransom by international creditors. Many plan to vote “No” to new measures at a referendum on Sunday, a vote that could extend the crisis further.

“Our lives do not belong to the creditors!” read banners held aloft by demonstrators.

A demonstration in favour of the bailout deal is due to be held on Tuesday, a week after the country’s bailout program expired.

The banks and markets closed after Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras announced he was calling a referendum for July 5 after last ditch negotiations with creditors soured.

“I feel betrayed,” Mr Tsipras said.

“The Greek people are very close to my heart. I know their hardship.”

That hardship is very real and it’s nothing new.

The Guardian reports since the Greek government’s debt crisis began in 2009, suicide rates have skyrocketed.

A protester bears on her wrist the ''NO'' slogan in reference to the forthcoming referendum. Picture: Aris Messinis / AFP

In 2012, suicides increased by 40 per cent, most unable to earn a living or having to make unreasonable sacrifices to get by.

The crisis is being felt outside Greece, too. Billions of dollars were wiped from the value of Australian shares yesterday, while US stocks also fell sharply overnight. Major indexes in Europe suffered even bigger losses.

Senior marketing strategist at Voya Investment Management Karyn Cavanaugh said: “Whenever you see any kind of bank line, there is in the back of investors’ mind the thought: ‘What if it spreads? What if people panic?”

It appears that horse has well and truly bolted.

“Everyone is frankly scared now, really worried,” Dimitris, 34, said.

“We just don’t know what is going to happen. No one has information. Ask 10 people right now what they think will happen and you’ll get 10 different answers. It’s a mess.”

If you, or someone you know needs help, please contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.