Capital Controls in Greece Scaled Back Some More

Greece’s international lenders have indicated that they will go ahead and approve the further relaxation of capital controls imposed on June 28 last year in efforts to boost confidence in the country’s banking system and bring back more than 15  billion euros in “elusive” deposits by the end of the year.

Bank of Greece Governor Yiannis Stournaras sent a final list of proposals on Monday to the European Central Bank (ECB), which is set to convene on the issue next Thursday.

Primary changes include no restrictions on withdrawals from newly-created  cash accounts, increased withdrawals for loan repayments and increased – from 10 percent to 30 percent – cash withdrawals from foreign capital deposits. Online purchase restrictions will also be eased and limits on the use of credit cards abroad will rise.

Additionally, depositors will be able to withdraw up to 840 euros from ATMs in one go every two weeks.

Meanwhile, since the imposition of capital controls last summer, the use of web banking and e-payments has increased.