Greece's Economy Minister Stathakis calls on ECB to keep Greek banks afloat

Gazzetta team 6 Ιουλίου 2015 - 16:56

Greece's Economy, Infrastructure, Shipping and Tourism Minister George Stathakis on Monday called on the European Central Bank (ECB) to keep Greek banks afloat for a period of a week to 10 days, in order to give time for talks on a Greek bailout to take place, in an interview with the BBC.

"Our country has no mandate to leave the eurozone," he said, in the interview posted on his twitter account.

The best case scenario, according to the minister, was for an additional 3.0 billion euros in ELA funding on Monday. Even if the ECB simply maintained the ELA ceiling at current levels, he added, the restrictions on cash withdrawal and bank transfers would stay in place until Friday.

A decision to cut ELA would put banks in a dire position, he warned.

According to Stathakis, the second element of the bailout will be based on the letter sent by Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to the creditors last week, accepting most of their terms, and asking for small changes in the nature of proposed pension cuts.

The Greek government will also push for a 30 pct debt haircut, in line with IMF recommendations in order to make Greece's debt sustainable, he said.