Romania and the Greek crisis

The Greek crisis and its possible consequences for Romania.

Ştefan Stoica, 29.06.2015, 12:25

Greece has until
Tuesday to repay 1.5 billion euros of its huge debt to its foreign creditors.
Taken by surprise by prime minister Alexis Tsipras’ call for a referendum on
the bailout terms, the Eurogroup suspended negotiations and announced that its
financial assistance programme would not be extended after June 30.

The European
Central Bank, however, has left the door open for a solution to save Greece
from bankruptcy and keep the country in the eurozone by maintaining its
emergency funding for Greek banks. The head of the International Monetary Fund,
Christine Lagarde, said the Fund was ready to help if necessary. She pointed
out, however, that the eurozone is in a strong position to respond to the
consequences of the Greek crisis and maintain the stability of the region.

In Greece, where
people had been queuing at ATMs since Saturday to withdraw money, banks did not
open on Monday and will stay closed until July 6, the day after the referendum.
Until then, cash withdrawals are limited at 60 euros per day, but not for
foreign citizens.

Given the
circumstances, the question naturally arose in Bucharest whether a financial
quake in Greece could be felt by banks with Greek capital across the region.
The spokesman for the National Bank of Romania Dan Suciu says Greek banks in
Romania will not be affected by a decision taken in Athens regarding the Greek
banking system. He underlined that the banks in Romania, including those with
Greek capital, are subject to internal legislation and the supervision of the
National Bank. Dan Suciu:

When we say
Greek banks we speak of Romanian banks that at some point used Greek founding
capital. They are subject to Romanian legislation, which stipulates that all
deposits of up 100,000 euros are to be guaranteed for all banks in Romania.
This does not apply discriminately to one bank or another, but to all banks, so
in the opinion of the National Bank of Romania there is no reason for concern
with regard to the reserves or deposits of the Romanian citizens.

On the other
hand, as Greece is one of the favourite holiday destinations for Romanian
citizens in summer, the foreign ministry in Bucharest has recommended all
Romanian tourists travelling to Greece to carry cash in case they may not be
able to use their credit or debit cards. According to the Romanian foreign
ministry, despite assurances from the Greek authorities, cases have been
reported when card payments have been refused.