cash in Greece
Cash in Greece
Vocabulary
| sight | normal | come up (2) |
| queue | make do | in order to |
| allow | withdraw | measure (2) |
| sector | prevent | collapsing |
| expect | queue up | unexpected |
| extra | for now | take out (2) |
Video
Transcript
It has become a normal sight in Greek cities: people queuing up in front of cash machines in order to take out their sixty euros (€60)a day. That’s all Greek customers are allowed to withdraw.
The banks have now been closed for almost three weeks, a measure taken by the government in order to prevent the banking sector from collapsing.
Male Resident One: “This is happening every day to every Greek: We go to the bank.”
Female Resident One: “If something unexpected comes up, there’s no more money to pay for anything extra. We’ll make do for now, but if something unexpected comes up, we don’t know how we’ll handle it.
There’s a sense of insecurity.”
But even though withdrawals are restricted, it’s still costing the banks an estimated one-hundred million euros (€100 million) a day.
This cash is only available because of the European Central Bank’s lifeline to Greece, known as ELA or Emergency Liquidity Assistance. Many expect the ECB’s Governing Council to extend the ELA limit of eighty-nine billion euros (€89 billion) a move that would be seen as a political decision to prevent the banks from running out of cash before a third bailout package is sealed.
Questions
1. In Greece (when the report was made in 2015) consumers and businesses, prefer electronic payment methods such as with bankcards and smartphones. Is this entirely true, mostly true, in the middle, yes and no, it depends, largely false, or completely false?
2. Can they withdrawal unlimited amounts of money?
3. Greek banks have come under (temporary, emergency) government regulation. Is this right or wrong? Why has the government taken measures on banks?
4. Do only working class people queue at ATM machines to withdraw cash?
5. All Greeks have enough money to cover emergencies. Is this correct or incorrect?
6. What is happening to banks in Greece? What has been the situation there?
7. Is Greece economically viable, like Germany?
A. In my city, most people pay electronically. Yes or no?
B. Does everyone have complete trust in banks (and the government)?
C. Have there been financial, economic or monetary crises in your country?
D. What are the causes of these crises?
E. What might happen in the future?
F. What should the government and people do?
