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The finance ministers of euro zone countries will hold a conference call at 11:00 am on Thursday, as stated by President of the Eurogroup Jeroen Dijsselbloem and confirmed by Michelle Raines on his Twitter account. The subject of the talks will be the outcome of the voting in the Greek parliament on the reforms that are required to open the road to a third programme for the Greek economy. It is noteworthy that Dijsselbloem had said that the Eurogroup would hold another teleconference meeting this week, probably on Friday, to approve the start of negotiations.

Meanwhile it has become clear that, according to banking sources, the opening of banks next week is a realistic goal and can happen if Greece meets its commitments to creditors.

According to the representatives of the banking sector, the European Central Bank should significantly enhance the liquidity of the system in order for banks to open in a restrictive regime. Initially, this could happen by lifting the ceiling on the financing provided by the Emergency Liquidity Assistance ELA but it is not expected to happen before Greece pays its debt to the Bank this coming Monday. The Governing Council of the European Central Bank will meet today and if the results of the voting in parliament were positive, it might proceed to a symbolic increase in ELA, thus ensuring the functioning of ATMs by the end of the week. According to banking sources, the Eurosystem will take the final decision to support the liquidity of Greek banks after confirmation from the European Central Bank that the due payment of 3.5 billion euro will be made according to schedule on 20 July.

If this happens, there will be a substantial increase in liquidity on Monday so that banks are able to open on 21 July, approximately one month after the imposition of capital controls. The government has extended the bank holiday until today but in the afternoon, it will issue a decision for another extension.

Representatives of the banking sector meet with government officials on a daily basis to take the necessary measures to open banks and prevent the risk of capital flight. How will this happen? In fact, no other transactions such as sales of shares on the stock exchange or purchase and sale of investment products can be made, except for payments and transfers within the banking system itself. Such transactions will be carried out gradually, and only from the new liquidity that the banking system will receive after the imposition of capital controls.

In addition, despite instructions from the EU, the possibility is being examined to impose severe restrictions on the export of money from Greece abroad during trips. A lower limit of 1,000 euro per traveller will be imposed, and there will be strict inspections at airports and customs.

As to the reopening of the Athens Stock Exchange, it should follow the reopening of banks that have reported to the authorities that the stock exchange will open a few days after the opening of banks. Without the possibility of trading shares from Greece, the first sessions on the stock exchange will be very complicated and the market will it difficult to find a balance due to the small transactions.