EU: We May Limit ATM Withdrawals if Greece Bails

Visa-free Euro travel could end too, officials warn
By Neal Colgrass,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 11, 2012 4:05 PM CDT
EU: We May Limit ATM Withdrawals if Greece Bails
Fifty Euro notes are pictured coming out of an ATM machine on June 22, 2011 in Athens, Greece.   (Getty Images)

Europe is readying a to-do list in case Greece tries to leave the euro—like limiting the size of Greek ATM withdrawals, ending visa-free EU travel, and clamping down on eurozone capital. Finance officials say they don't expect Greece to bail, but anything is possible with the radical-left SYRIZA coalition poised to fare well in June 17 Greek elections. "It is sensible planning, that is all, planning for the worst-case scenario," a source tells Reuters.

Polls show that up to 80% of Greeks want to keep the euro, but SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras says he hopes to stop or seriously renegotiate Greece's $130 billion bailout with the IMF and the European Union. Both groups, however, say renegotiation is not on the table. Belgian Finance Minister Steve Vanackere puts it this way: "We must insist on efforts to avoid an exit scenario but that doesn't mean we are not preparing for eventualities." (More Greece stories.)

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