USA TODAY International Edition
Banks reopen with long lines shadowed by doubts
Sales tax increased, Parliament to weigh other loan measures
Greek banks opened Monday for the first time in more than three weeks, prompting long lines of customers still limited in their withdrawals and uncertain about their country’s financial future.
A higher sales tax demanded by creditors went into effect Monday, raising the levy from 13% to 23% on most goods, including coffee, sugar, public transportation and taxis.
Bank customers are limited to withdrawing about $ 65 a day, though they soon will be able to withdraw a week’s worth of cash in one visit.
The Athens Stock Exchange, which closed three weeks ago, remains shut.
Money transfers abroad are still blocked.
A $ 7.7 billion bridge loan from the European Central Bank on Friday gave banks a needed influx of cash and allowed Greece to make two large debt payments Monday, including one to the International Monetary Fund.
The Greek Parliament is to vote Wednesday on a second set of measures linked to the $ 94 billion bailout, opening the door to negotiations on the terms that could begin in two weeks.
Those negotiations were thrown a curve last week after the IMF — a central player in Greece’s first two bailouts — said it would not support a new plan unless Greece’s debt is restructured or reduced because the country is too weak to repay.
European creditors, led by Germany, have refused to consid- er shrinking how much Greece owes: more than $ 300 billion since 2010.
“This is a very tricky moment for Greece because the government is selling the public on the idea that the worst of the crisis has passed, but there are some very dangerous obstacles that remain,” said Antonio Trusardi, an economist who monitors the Mediterranean region for Hildebrandt and Ferrar in Milan. “The next two or three weeks are key.”
Bank customers are limited to withdrawing about $ 65 a day, though they soon will be able to withdraw a week’s worth of cash in one visit.