Brussels, 16/01/2015 (Agence Europe) - Greek finance minister Gikas Hardouvelis has issued a warning about the problems Greece may face to service its debt.
In the Financial Times of Thursday 15 January, the minister said that the timing was very tight and the cash was not available. He criticised the statements by leaders of the Syriza party that Athens could raise short-term debt from Greek banks, in addition to its budget reserves, in order to pay the €4.3 billion bill that becomes due to its lenders in March.
In opinion polls ahead of the 25 January general elections, the far left coalition, Syriza, was neck-to-neck with the 'New Democracy' party.
Eurobank and Alphabank, two of Greece's Big Four banks, have asked the European Central Bank about making further use of the ECB's emergency liquidity scheme (ELA) if they run out of cash because of the general election, according to French press agency reports on Friday 16 January. The ECB will decide on this preventative request at the Governing Board on Thursday 22 January. (MB)