The Greek referendum vote has resulted in a 61.3 per cent victory for the ‘no’ camp backed by prime minister Alexis Tsipras, who now faces further negotiations with the rest of Europe on its future within the region.
Last Monday the Greek government announced the shuttering of its banks and restrictions on how much nationals could withdraw each day, after the latest round of debt talks broke down.
An eleventh hour conference call between Alexis Tsipras and his european counterparts saw the rejection of a third bailout request for €29.1bn (£20.6bn).
Greece also missed a €1.5bn (£1.06bn) payment to the International Monetary Fund, which was due last week, which meant the country went into arrears and will only be able to receive further financing once they are cleared.
The heads of the European Commission, European Central Bank and eurogroup of finance ministers are due to hold a conference call this morning (6 July), with Mr Tsipras stating that the immediate priority was “the swiftest possible restoration of the functioning of our banking system”.
Mr Tsipras said yesterday (5 July) that he was ready to resume talks immediately, “but this time the issue of debt will be on the negotiating table”, adding that the mandate from the country’s voters gave him greater bargaining power.
Meanwhile, his minister of finance Yanis Varoufakis resigned following the result of the vote, according to a blog he wrote, due to his absence from further negotiations being preferred by the prime minister.
The UK government issued a statement today, pointing out that Greek banking controls remain in force “and are likely to remain closed until the Greek government is in a position to re-open them”.
Contingency plans are already in place and this morning the prime minister David Cameron will chair a further meeting to review those plans in light of the result of the Greek referendum.
Last week, Moody’s Investors Service downgraded Greece’s government bond rating from Caa2 to Caa3 and placed the rating on review for a further downgrade.
The move was based on the view that “the probability of support continuing to be provided over the medium-term has fallen since the assignment of the Caa2 rating in April, regardless of the outcome of Sunday’s referendum”.
peter.walker@ft.com
