Holidaymakers travelling to Greece this summer are being advised to take euros with them rather than relying on credit cards and cash machines.
The advice from the Greek Tourist Board in London is in response to the possibility that the financial crisis could force banks to switch off their cash machines. While they are not expecting problems at the moment, they state that tourists should not visit the country expecting to rely solely on cash machines and credit cards.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s official guidance to anyone visiting Greece is to take enough cash with them to cover unexpected delays and emergencies.
Bob Atkinson from Travelsupermarket.com said that travellers to the debt ridden country should take with them a number of different payment options. He referred to the Cyprus bailout in 2013 when some restaurants and shops would not accept card payments and many banks limited cash withdrawals.
The Greek finance minister, Yanis Varoufakis, has said that his country could run out of money in a matter of weeks. Greece owes a total of 323 billion euros and its economy has shrunk by 25 per cent since the start of the Eurozone crisis. The total debt is 175 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product. Sixty per cent of the money owed is to the Eurozone and 10 per cent to the International Monetary fund, IMF.
Greece has until the end of June to reach an agreement with its creditors. The financial situation was described as ‘terribly urgent’ by Mr Varoufakis. Eurozone member states are insisting that Greece makes a number of reforms in return for its bailout, one of which is to cut pensions.
Concerns continue that Greece might default on the money it owes to the IMF, although these have been somewhat allayed by the news that it has made part of a £750 million payment due on May 13.
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