Money in circulation hits record highs in June
Money in circulation hit record highs in June ahead of the imposition of capital controls on Greek banks, the Bank of Greece said on Monday.
In a report, the central bank, said that the value of banknotes in circulation totaled 50.5 billion euros at the end of June, from 45.2 billion a month earlier. The figures showed that money raised from bank deposits remained in the country as depositors opted for the safety of cash, raising the value of cash held by civilians by around 5.0 billion euros in one month.
Meanwhile, Greek banks’ dependence on the ECB and the Emergency Liquidity Assistance mechanism (ELA) grew to 126.5 billion euros at the end of June, from 116.4 billion at the end of May. Borrowing from ELA rose to 86.7 billion euros from 77.6 billion in May, while borrowing from ECB edged up to 39.8 billion euros in June from 38.8 billion in May.
