Greek savers rush for gold

[Phileas]

Last updated: June 21, 2011 104 pm

Greek savers rush for gold
By Kerin Hope in Athens
Greek citizens are emptying savings accounts and buying gold as they brace themselves for the possibility of a sovereign default and a run on the banks.

Pledges by socialist prime minister George Papandreou that his government would “save the country” have been widely discounted by the public. However, parliament gave him a vote of confidence late on Tuesday night. The socialists have a six-seat majority in the 300-member house.

Sales of gold coins have soared as savers seek a safer and fungible source of value.

“When the global financial crisis started, our sales of coins to investors overtook bullion for the first time,” said Harry Krinakis, at Sepheriades, a Greek precious metals trader. “Now the sales ratio has reached five to one.”

Tomas, a computer technician, has exchanged his euro savings for gold coins: “I keep them at home just like my grandmother did in the second world war.”

Monthly bank withdrawals were running at €1.5bn-€2bn (£1.3bn-£1.8bn) in the first quarter. Last year, depositors withdrew €30bn, equivalent to 12.3 per cent of total savings, according to the central bank. Greek deposits worth an estimated €8bn were transferred to banks in Cyprus in 2010. But the flow has dried up this year amid fears that Cypriot banks could suffer contagion.

Andreas, a supermarket manager, transferred the family savings to Munich earlier this year: “The Swiss banks aren’t interested unless you’ve got several hundred thousand euros.”

“We can’t trust the politicians to get us out of this mess [and] have to protect our families,” Sakis, a garage owner, said at an anti-austerity protest in Athens’ Syntagma square. “A bank collapse has got to be on the cards.” He added he had withdrawn his savings and placed them in a bank safe deposit box “for security. Who cares about interest right now?”

Others put their savings into land when prices fell after Greece’s first European Union-led rescue last year. Angelos, a software specialist, bought a neighbour’s olive grove. “I grabbed the opportunity,” he said. “A year ago I wouldn’t have considered making such an old-fashioned investment.”

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Greek savers rush for gold - FT.com

[-Duca-]

in grecia hanno ritirato dai depositi 80 miliardi di euro negli ultimi mesi.. non so quanto di questi in contanti, cmq costituisce una stretta creditizia molto forte.. chissà alla prossima asta di rifinanziamento del debito quanto aumenteranno i tassi di interesse..

[Feliks]

Io ho paura che non basterà neanche questa crisi gigantesca per sconfiggere i keynesiani. Ho paura che anzi ne usciranno rafforzati.

[-Duca-]

Io ho paura che non basterà neanche questa crisi gigantesca per sconfiggere i keynesiani. Ho paura che anzi ne usciranno rafforzati.

in effetti ti vedo in forma

[Feliks]

in effetti ti vedo in forma

dammi del laziale a sto punto! ncav:

[-Duca-]

dammi del laziale a sto punto! ncav:

non attacca con me

[Phileas]

Io ho paura che non basterà neanche questa crisi gigantesca per sconfiggere i keynesiani. Ho paura che anzi ne usciranno rafforzati.

Mahhh...io inizio a credere che almeno i keynesiani rendono il buon servizio di riconoscere l'ovvio: l'economia non è mai in equilibrio. Gente come Mankiw, Blinder & co capiscono che i prezzi sono problematici, "scoprirli" (loro erroneamente li chiamano sticky) non è facile
Gente come Lucas, Prescott, Kydland hanno messo su delle tali corbellerie autoreferenziali da far ridere dietro all'economia per i prossimi 100 anni. Il successo dei keynesiani dipende da questo