Capital controls begin to inflict new little irritants
RESTRICTIONS ADDING NEW LAYER OF ANNOYANCES FOR EMBATTLED CITIZENS
Greece’s capital controls are beginning to bite — in tiny little nips. From stocking up on milk powder and medicines, standing in line for hours to withdraw the maximum daily-allowed amount of €60 (Dh244, $67) from ATMs to not being able to buy Apple Store apps, the restrictions are adding a new layer of annoyances for the country’s crisis-weary citizens.
As they go into another day of the new limits, Greeks are grappling with the fear that the turn of events portends an even more difficult time to come.
“What can you do?” said Yanis Kordonis, 29, a university student with a part-time job as he played backgammon with a friend at a small cafe in Pangrati, in central Athens, on Tuesday. “You have to remain calm. This has been going on for five years. But I am a little scared, confused too. Our parents are worried they won’t be paid their salaries.”
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has led his country deeper into the economic unknown after he called for a referendum on the latest austerity measures on July 5, and talks with institutional creditors broke down. Greece imposed capital controls and shuttered banks on Monday.
Tsipras’ last-ditch request for aid before Greece’s bailout expired on Tuesday was dismissed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who said there will be no negotiations before the referendum. That has left Greeks bracing for the worst.
“I really fear it could end in civil war,” said Aphrodite Tsichias, 34, who withdrew €50 after queuing for 30 minutes at an Alpha Bank ATM on Tuesday afternoon. “It could get very ugly.”
Like dictatorship
Tsichias, who has been unemployed for five years and previously worked at the state television company as a producer, was accompanied by her mother, Hellen Kalamaki, who said the times are reminiscent of the Greek military rule of the 1960s and 1970s.
“We’re watching the news constantly,” Kalamaki said. “It’s like a dictatorship. When I was growing up as a small girl during the military junta, we’d wait to hear developments on the BBC. I want to stay in Europe but I’m very worried about the future.”
The long-drawn turbulence in the country has inured most Greeks who have seen their economy shrink by a quarter and struggle to emerge from recession. Since Greece sparked the euro area debt crisis in 2009, people have lived with the shadow of uncertainty over the country’s future in the euro.
The tumultuous times have taught them valuable lessons — like keeping much of their cash under mattresses and tiles, rather than in banks. Even so, Tsipras’ moves have created further turmoil, driving some to stock up on essentials.
“People are buying more medicine,” said Xenia Babou, the owner of a pharmacy in Athens. “They’re worried. A lot are buying for the next month; they’re afraid they’ll run out or their government subsidy will be cut off. We are also selling a lot of milk powder for babies.”
Outside Babou’s pharmacy on the busy Pangrati square, three Communist Party members handed out leaflets urging people to vote “no” in Sunday’s referendum, opposing more austerity.