REPORT: 'Neighbouring countries have effectively quarantined Greece'
Milos Bicanski/Getty ImagesThe Headquarters of the Bank of Greece are vandalised following violent protests which took place against the Government's austerity plans, February 13, 2012 in Athens, Greece. Greek banks units located outside the country are being ordered to get out of the country's debt by neighbouring nations, who have cracked down on Greek banking subsidiaries in unison.
That's according to Kathimerini, one of Greece's biggest newspapers.
Here's their scoop:
Kathimerini understands that the central banks of Albania, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Romania, Serbia, Turkey and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia have all forced the subsidiaries of Greek banks operating in those countries to bring their exposure to Greek risk (bonds, treasury bills, deposits to Greek banks, loans etc.) down to zero in order to shield themselves and minimise the danger of contagion in case the negotiations between the Greek government and the eurozone do not bear fruit.
This quarantine was deemed necessary after the aggressive rhetoric of the new Greek government - particularly in the first few weeks after the election - regarding a debt restructuring, the non-completion of the creditors' assessment and so on.
The move could be a sign that the other countries believe a default is imminent, and they're scrambling to protect their financial systems.
Yesterday, speaking at a Brookings Institution event just before Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis, German finance minister Wolfgange Schaeuble said that any decision to exit the euro would be Greece's alone.
He also suggested he would be happy for Greece to find bailout funds somewhere else, according to the BBC: "The Europeans have said, OK, we are ready to do it until 2020... If you find someone else, whether it's in Beijing, in Moscow, in Washington DC, or in New York who will lend you money, ok, fine."