Desperate Greeks in frantic search for cash machines

Greeks raced Sunday to find cash machines in an increasingly anxious run on the banks, as speculation mounted of capital controls and a possible bank holiday being declared.

“I don’t know what happens — it’s crazy,” a Greek woman, Voula, told AFP while on the lookout for a working cashpoint in Athens.

In central Athens, as least a dozen ATMs could no longer dispense bank notes, prompting Athenians and tourists alike to roam the streets in a frantic hunt for cash.

Greece held an emergency gathering of its systemic stability council, as the clock ticked on a two-day countdown to a possible default.

“I tried many machines — five, six, eight, ten — I am not sure,” Voula added after failing to withdraw money from yet another ATM.

“I feel anxious, sad, angry about the government. I hate them! They put Greece on a very dangerous adventure.”

At one particular cash machine in the Greek capital, a queue of more than 100 people snaked along the street.

“There is a fear that tomorrow, banks will not open, so I am taking out money for the rent (and) daily expenses,” said a woman, waiting in the line, who declined to give her name.

“We are worried about the situation. We have to take care of ourselves.

“The last months (have been) unusual but this is the first time I have seen something like this,” she told AFP.

According to an anonymous banking source in Greece, only 40 percent of the nation’s cash machines currently have money in them — purely because they cannot be restocked with banknotes quickly enough.

[AFP]