New deal weighed as elderly line up for euros

Crowds of anxious elderly Greeks thronged banks for hours from before dawn on Wednesday, struggling to be allowed to withdraw their maximum of 120 euros ($134) for the week, after Greece reopened some banks to help pensioners who don't have bank cards.

The often chaotic scenes came hours after Greece's bailout program with European creditors expired and it failed to repay a debt to the International Monetary Fund, the first developed country to do so. The last country to miss an IMF payment was Zimbabwe in 2001.

The expiration of the bailout and the missed IMF payment cut Greece off from vital financing and pushed it one step closer to leaving the euro. The IMF cannot lend money to a country that is in arrears.

The eurozone's finance ministers are set for a conference call to weigh a last-minute proposal from Greece for a new aid program, which was submitted Tuesday afternoon.

The deadlines on the bailout and IMF payment expired after a tense weekend during which Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras announced he will put a deal proposal by Greece's international creditors to a referendum on Sunday. He urged a "No" vote.

The move increased fears the country could soon fall out of the euro currency bloc and saw Greeks rushing to pull money out of ATMs, leading the government to shutter its banks and restrict transactions. Greeks are now limited to ATM withdrawals of 60 euros a day and cannot send money abroad or make international payments without special permission.

European officials and Greek opposition parties have been adamant that a "No" vote on Sunday will mean Greece will leave the euro and possibly even the EU. The government rejects such arguments as scaremongering and says dismissing creditor demands will mean the country is in a better negotiating position.

But government officials have begun hinting that the referendum might not proceed if an agreement with creditors is reached this week.

Health Minister Panagiotis Kouroumplis was asked during a morning news show on Antenna television whether the referendum could be called off under certain circumstances.

"Look, if a deal is found, there is a chance there could be this possibility too. Everything is developing," Kouroumplis said.

On Tuesday night, Deputy Prime Minister Yannis Dragasakis hinted at the same possibility. The government decided on the referendum, he said on state television, "and it can make a decision on something else".

It was unclear how that would be possible, since Parliament has already voted for the referendum to go ahead.

With many elderly Greeks unable to access any money without bank cards, the government said about 1,000 bank branches across the country would open for three days starting on Wednesday to give them access to some cash.

But a seeming last-minute decision to serve customers on an alphabetical basis, announced by some banks overnight and by others in the morning, led to chaotic scenes of confusion and anger, with many pensioners waiting for hours from before dawn to be eventually told they would have to return on Thursday or Friday.

Others were told their pensions had not yet been deposited and they would therefore have to return later in the week.

"It's very bad," said retired pharmacy worker Popi Stavrakaki, 68. "I'm afraid it will be worse soon. I have no idea why this is happening."

Meanwhile, many ATMs had run out of 20-euro notes, meaning the maximum they would dispense per day was one 50-euro note per bank card, effectively cutting the amount of cash Greeks have access to.

(China Daily 07/02/2015 page12)