Will Greece seek to make a drachma out of a crisis?

GOVERNMENT DISMISSES CLAIM THAT IT PLANS TO RETURN TO THE PRE-EURO CURRENCY

An opposition lawmaker in Greece touched a nerve yesterday when he told parliament the leftwing government had a team preparing the ground for a return to the drachma, a prospect many Greeks fear would bring chaos.

The government of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras angrily dismissed the claim as “fantasy”.

But there are a growing number of warnings from Greece’s European partners that a ‘No’ vote in a referendum on Sunday on the terms of a bailout deal would lead to a Greek exit from Europe’s common currency.

“There’s already a team within the prime minister’s office, with staff from the general accounting office, right now working on the drachma,” Haris Theoharis of the centrist opposition party To Potami told the chamber.

“You have a plan to take us back to the drachma,” said Theoharis, who headed the government’s revenue service in a previous conservative-led coalition.

The claim adds to a climate of fear and uncertainty in Greece, where banks are closed for the week and Greeks have been rationed to cash withdrawals of 60 euros per day after the collapse of negotiations at the weekend on extending a bailout programme to keep the country liquid.

Tsipras said he would put the aid deal, which includes yet more austerity for a country going through one of the worst economic crises of modern times, to a popular plebiscite, and is urging a ‘No’ vote.

He insists rejection would not mean a Greek exit from the euro, but European leaders say the referendum amounts to ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ on whether to stay with the currency.

In parliament Deputy

Labour Minister Dimitris Stratoulis accused Theoharis of trying to “terrorise” voters. A government spokesman said in a statement: “Apart from being a fantasy scenario, the statement of Mr Theoharis is the height of irresponsibility. Shame!” Officials at the general accounting office could not immediately be reached for comment.

Poised to default on a €1.6 billion (Dh6.6 billion) loan repayment to the International Monetary Fund yesterday, Athens faces running out of cash to pay pensions and wages without a new credit line.

AP Old money A man poses for a picture in front of a plaque in Athens of a Greek one-drachma coin, which was replaced by the euro in 2002.

AP Queueing up People queue at an ATM outside a closed bank, next to a sign on the plant, bottom right, reading ‘’NO’’ in Athens.

AP Hoping for relief An elderly man waits to receive his pension outside the National Bank of Greece in Athens yesterday.