Submitted by Tyler Durden on 07/01/2015 09:41 -0400
1,000 Greek bank branches chanced a stampede in order
to open their doors to the country's retirees on Wednesday.
The scene was somewhat chaotic as pensioners formed
long lines and the country’s elderly attempted to squeeze through the doors in
order to access pension payments.
As Bloomberg reports, payouts were rationed and
disbursals were limited according to last name. Here’s more:
It’s a day of fresh indignities for the people of
Greece.
About a third of the nation’s depleted banks cracked
open their doors after being closed for three days. But all they did was ration
pension payments, hours after the country became the first advanced economy to
miss a payment to the International Monetary Fund and its bailout program
expired.
On the third day of capital controls, a few dozen
pensioners lined up by 7 a.m. at a central Athens branch of the National Bank
of Greece, an hour before opening time. They were to receive a maximum
of 120 euros ($133), compared with the average monthly payment of about 600
euros. Many left with nothing after the manager said only those with last names
starting with the letters A through K would get paid.
“Not only will I have to queue for hours at the bank
in the hope of getting 120 euros, but I’ll have a two-hour round trip,” said
Dimitris Danaos, 77, a retired local government worker who was making the bus
journey from his home outside the Greek capital to the suburb of Glyfada.
AFP has more color:
In chaotic scenes, thousands of angry elderly Greeks
on Wednesday besieged the nation’s crisis-hit banks, which have reopened to
allow them to withdraw vital cash from their state pensions.
“Let them go to hell!” said one pensioner waiting to
get his money, after failed talks between Athens and international creditors
sparked a week-long banking shutdown.
The Greek government, which closed the banks and
imposed strict capital controls after cash machines ran dry, has temporarily
reopened almost 1,000 branches to allow pensioners without cards to withdraw
120 euros ($133) to last the rest of the week.
The move has again sparked lengthy queues at banks
across Greece — and outrage from many retirees who are regarded as among the
most vulnerable in society, exposed to a vicious and lengthy economic downturn.
Under banking restrictions imposed all week, ordinary
Greeks can withdraw up to 60 euros a day for each credit or debit card — but
many of the elderly population do not have cards.
Another customer, a retired mariner who asked not to
be named, told AFP he had no cash to buy crucial medicine for his sick wife.
“I worked for 50 years on the sea and now I am the
beggar for 120 euros,” he said.
“I took out 120 euros — but I have no money for
medication for my wife, who had an operation and is ill,” he added.
Here’s a look at the scene at National Bank in Athens
courtesy of The Telegraph:
