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Governor of the Bank of Greece Yiannis Stournaras informed Deputy Prime Minister Yiannis Dragasakis about the extremely bad climate for Greece among the members of the Governing Council of the European Central Bank. As reported by newspaper To Vima, Stournaras had said that the other top bankers of the European Union had lists of accurate estimates of how much the statements by SYRIZA ministers will cost if implemented. They were very concerned about the sharp drop in budget revenues in January and the dramatic deterioration of the treasury that has funds only until the end of February.
     These facts were actually the basis of the Governing Council's decision to stop accepting Greek government bonds as collateral for providing liquidity to Greek banks. The opinion of the European top bankers is that Greece has already exited the rescue programme. Yiannis Stournaras warned Dragasakis that if the government does not present its economic programme as soon as possible the country will be in danger of being totally excluded from the liquidity providing mechanisms of the European Central Bank and therefore liable to a financial shock.
     The Governor of the Bank of Greece stressed that, currently, inaction is particularly dangerous for the economic stability of Greece. He urged the government of Alexis Tsipras to present as soon as possible a well-reasoned and well-founded economic programme to replace the current one that SYRIZA considers a product of the Troika.
    Stournaras stressed before the media that liquidity is provided to Greek banks for the time being and deposits are safe.
     At the same time, The Financial Times newspaper wrote that the representatives of the euro zone are concerned that the rescue programme for Greece, worth 172 billion euro, is due to expire in late February and the country is under the threat of sinking into chaos. After a series of meetings with the members of the new Greek government, those representatives of the euro zone are convinced that Athens is unaware of the precariousness of its financial situation.
    German Minister of Economy Sigmar Gabriel was quite categorical in his statements after the meeting with Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis. "Every country has the right to choose a democratic government and of course every government has the right to entirely change the policy that it will pursue. But one thing should be clear - the consequences, and especially the economic consequences, of a change in Greek politics cannot be transferred to other countries and be paid by taxpayers in other countries," he was clear.
     Gabriel, who is also vice-chancellor of Germany, stressed that neither the European Union nor the European citizens are to blame for the difficulties in Greece’s economy. They are the fault of the previous left- and right-winged Greek governments that left the country in a tragic condition and benefited from it.