The Greek people have given their verdict. They will not be bullied by the Germans and the rest of Europe and have voted ‘no’ in the referendum on whether to accept further austerity measures.
Some have said a no vote is effectively a vote to leave the Euro as Greece loses protection from the European Central Bank.
The Greek government believed that by confirming their mandate from the Greek people they will strengthen their negotiating position with creditors.
“The government now has a strong mandate, a strong negotiating card, to bring a deal which will open new ways,” said Labour Minister Skourletis
They may, however, be horribly mistaken. Mixed reports throughout the day have suggested that the Germans and French were not rushing back to talks tomorrow as Tsipras would have liked.
Tsipras may have planned to jump back to the table and broker a fresh deal with creditors. He will be extremely disappointed to hear that one euro zone official has said to Reuters, they “would not know what to discuss.”
The uncertainty created by the void may be enough to tip Greek banks over the edge as deposits continue to decrease and support from the ECB wanes.
Major futures markets remain closed, but UK spread betting firms have given early indications of tomorrow’s opening prices. It’s not pretty. IG are quoting the following prices.
After many weeks of talk about a potential accident, we may now have it.
