Greece seems set to leave the days of the imposed capital controls behind, as the government will lift the €5,000 limit to transactions that has been in effect for three years now, as this limit far exceeds the needs of most depositors.
The banks in Greece have expressed their concerns in regards to the condition of the bank accounts of many of their clients, as they appear to be struggling financially with the heavy taxes imposed by the Government, including the property tax (ENFIA) and personal income taxes.
The lift to the capital controls will also affect citizens travelling to and from Greece, who will now be able to carry up to €10,000 on them upon departure or arrival and withdraw up to €5,000 from abroad, as well as businesses that will see their daily transfer limit to other nations rise from €10,000 that it is today to €40,000, while at the same time there will no longer be any limits for any profits from investments that were made in Greece.
Finally, all checks will be paid in cash, putting an end to the practice of having money being transferred to the accounts. This decision could possibly move forward even on the same day it will be published in the Official Government Gazette, however all changes that have to do with foreign transactions will come into effect on 1 October.
Meanwhile, international credit rating agency Moody’s released its credit report on Greece on Wednesday, keeping the country’s credit rating level stable at B3 with a “positive outlook”. In its report, Moody’s points out the potential for Greece’s “faster-than-expected” financial development provided the government remains faithful to its agreed upon economic reforms and makes the decision to reduce pensions even further in January. However not all things in Greece are as financially prosperous as these indicators would make them out to be, as the data collected by the Independent Authority for Public Revenue that was presented to the Parliament showed that almost all people who owe taxes have exceeding debts of over €10,000.
More specifically, about 3.6 million Greek citizens owe close to 10,000 euros each to the Greek Government, while 3.8 million taxpayers and businesses have a total debt of €101.5 billion. 240,000 others owe amounts between €10,000 and €100,000. Greece’s major debtors are not more than 41,232 but they collectively owe a staggering sum of €91.2 billion to the state. It is worth noting that as the report points out, most of these debts were created after the heavy austerity measures enforced on the country.