Greek stock market to reopen, with restrictions

The Athens stock exchange will reopen Monday, more than a month after Greece’s financial crisis forced the authorities to suspend all trading.

The Athens Stock Exchange was shut when the government closed banks and imposed strict limits on withdrawals and foreign transfers to prevent a run on deposits by savers and companies.

After a five-week shutdown, the Greek stock market will reopen on Monday, it has been reported.

Meanwhile, as the bailout talks got underway, the worldwide Monetary Fund (IMF) set its terms saying it would only join a “comprehensive” financial rescue programme that included debt relief and economic reforms.

“It will certainly be a market under severe pressure when it re-opens, and the banks could bear the brunt of it”, said Toscafund analyst Takis Christodoulopoulos.

The bailout could be worth as much as 86 billion euros ($96 billion).

“As you can understand, there was convergence on some points, and less convergence on others, ” he said. “They will suffer more because their investors have to face a dilution from the (expected) recapitalisation of the sector”, said one asset manager at a Greek fund.

Under the ECB-approved plan, local investors would be allowed to buy shares with existing cash holdings, but not to withdraw money from their Greek bank accounts to buy shares. “The discussion was held in a very good climate and will continue”, said Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos.

Greece’s economy has also begun to reverse the gains it was making before Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras was elected on a strong anti-austerity platform. Varoufakis had alleged that the aim would have been to create a parallel banking system to deal with a potential closure of the countrys banks.

“Mr Varoufakis may have made mistakes, ” he said.