ATHENS: Greece companies and households pulled out €7.6 billion from their bank accounts during the standoff of the government with its creditors in February. The Deposits fell around €140.5 billion, which is the lowest level in last decade.
Although the withdrawals were lower than in January, the EUR20.4 billion pulled out over the two months shows how close Greece came to a full-scale bank run before Athens reached agreement with eurozone authorities to extend its EUR172 billion bailout into June.
The two-month total, reported by the Bank of Greece on Thursday, is even larger than the EUR15.9 billion withdrawn by companies and households in May and June 2012, when back-to-back Greek elections led eurozone officials to prepare actively for a Greek exit from the single currency.
