Greek PM says will end capital controls

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told parliament yesterday the country would end capital controls imposed four years ago amid a historic debt crisis.

“Four years after they were imposed, the capital controls are coming to an end,” Mitsotakis said. The measures are to take effect on September 1, once an amendment drawn up by the government has been adopted, Finance Minister Christos Staikouras added.

In June 2015, Greece imposed capital controls as the country suffered a flight of cash from its banks after the Socialist government at the time missed a debt payment to the International Monetary Fund.

The controls limited the amount of money that people could withdraw from cash machines and the amount of money Greeks could transfer abroad. Greece ended its bailout programmes with international creditors in August 2018 and the economy has begun to improve.