Greece to abolish capital controls after 3 years: media

Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-23 21:01:59|Editor: xuxin
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ATHENS, Sept. 23 (Xinhua) -- Greece is about to lift all restrictions to cash withdrawals within the country in the coming days and abolish its capital controls altogether by early 2019 at the latest, according to a report in local newspaper "Kathimerini" (Daily) on Sunday.

The country's finance ministry and central bank are reportedly planning to put an end to limits on cash withdrawals from Greek banks domestically. There currently is a ceiling of 5,000 euros (5,880 U.S. dollars) per month per bank account.

Another immediate intervention will concern the lifting of all restrictions to money transfers abroad, both for individuals and for companies, the report said.

This will be followed by the end of 2018 or early next year at the latest by the complete lifting of the capital controls, barring any unforeseeable circumstances, so as to help the banking system and the economy in general revert to normality, noted Kathimerini.

Deposits have been trickling back into the Greek credit system to reach up to 130.24 billion euros in end-July, up 7.4 percent on a year earlier, according to central bank figures.

Capital controls were introduced in Greece in the summer of 2015 after the government called a referendum regarding the terms of a third bailout agreement with Greece's eurozone peers. The bailout program was concluded last month. (1 euro = 1.176 U.S. dollars)

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