ATHENS -- Greek banks will stay closed before July 6, one day after a planned referendum on bailout proposals, and ATM withdrawals will be limited to 60 euros (65 U.S. dollars) a day per bank card in the same period, the government said early Monday.
The announcement was made in a decree published in the official government gazette and entitled "Bank Holiday break" in the small hours of the day.
The decree on capital controls, signed by both President Prokopis Pavlopoulos and Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, lists the measures imposed on financial institutions lasting from June 28 to July 6.
It said "the extremely urgent and unforeseen need to protect the Greek financial system and the Greek economy due to the lack of liquidity caused by the Eurogroup's decision on June 27 to refuse the extension of the loan agreement with Greece".
Banks will reopen on July 7, while ATMs, will "operate normally again by Monday noon (July 6) at the latest," said a government statement.
As depositors have rushed to make withdrawals from cash machines over the weekend, many ATMs are empty.
According the statement, pension payments will be exempt from the bank transaction restrictions, while there will be "no problem for wages paid electronically into bank accounts."
Online banking transactions inside Greece will work normally, so will card payments in shops, but transfers abroad will require approval from a Ministry of Finance commission, the statement added.
