大选迫近欧猪希腊民众囤积食物

大选迫近欧猪希腊民众囤积食物

    路透社报导，随着周日大选临近，希腊民众纷纷从银行取出现金，同时囤积食物，因为他们恐惧大选结果将导致希腊被迫退出欧元区。

银行业者们称，每天大约有8亿欧元（10亿美元）离开希腊大型银行。零售商们称，这其中的部分资金被用于面条和罐头食物，因为希腊国内目前充满传言，称左翼领导人将赢得大选并最终导致该国重返德拉克马。

此前最新民调显示，支持援助协议的希腊保守党新民主的支持率与极端左翼SYRIZA党难分伯仲。随着选举之日临近，民调机构已被禁止进行此类调查，而在这段信息真空期内，党派官员们一直在“泄露”相互矛盾的“秘密调查”。

周二一则传闻称，SYRIZA党正以极大优势领先。

不过，某声誉极佳的民调机构匿名称，这样做毫无意义。他说：“我们的调查显示，自此前发布的最新民调以来，局势并没有明显改变。各政党可能希望通过泄露这些数据来巩固自身地位。”

上述民调机构称，选民的态度有所合并，部分选民自小党派转向新民主党或是SYRIZA，但那些态度不明的选民依旧占到极大部分，因此最终选举结果难以预料。

新民主党告诉选民，他们必须在欧元和德拉克马之间作出选择。而SYRIZA则保证将结束国际金主施加于希腊民众身上的紧缩措施。

过去两年来，对希腊最终退出欧元区的恐惧已缓慢抽空银行存款。希腊央行数据显示，2011年银行存款缩水了约17%，为354亿欧元；截止今年4月，银行存款余1659亿欧元。

银行业者们称，选举前夕存款流失正在加速。过去一些天来，希腊大型银行每日存款外流5-8亿欧元，中小型银行每日外流1000-3000万欧元。

一名要求匿名的银行家说：“这包括现金提款，电子转账，投资于货币市场基金、德国债券和欧洲投资银行债券。”

零食商们说，消费者们正在囤积非易腐食品，而其他商品的销量均出现大减，因为随着经济进入第五个衰退年头，民众已没有多余的资金。

ESEE零售联合会主席Vassilis Korkidis说：“人们对返回德拉克马充满恐惧，一些人认为，用食物填满自己的橱柜是有用的。”但他同时指出，当下不能恐慌，囤满食物并不意味着能够逃离危机。

Greeks withdraw cash ahead of cliffhanger vote

ATHENS | Wed Jun 13, 2012 7:23am EDT

(Reuters) - Greeks pulled their cash out of the banks and stocked up with food ahead of a cliffhanger election on Sunday that many fear will result in the country being forced out of the euro.

Bankers said up to 800 million euros ($1 billion) were leaving major banks daily and retailers said some of the money was being used to buy pasta and canned goods, as fears of returning to the drachma were fanned by rumors that a radical leftist leader may win the election.

The last published opinion polls showed the conservative New Democracy party, which backs the 130 billion euro ($160 billion) bailout that is keeping Greece afloat, running neck and neck with the leftist SYRIZA party, which wants to cancel the rescue deal.

As the election approaches, publishing polls is now legally banned and in the ensuing information vacuum, party officials have been leaking contradictory "secret polls".

On Tuesday, one rumor making the rounds was that SYRIZA was leading by a wide margin.

"This is nonsense," one reputable Greek pollster said on condition of anonymity. "Our polls show the picture has not changed much since the last polls were published. Parties may be leaking these numbers on purpose to boost their standing."

The pollster said there was some consolidation, with voters turning to New Democracy and SYRIZA from smaller parties but the pool of undecided voters remained unusually large so close to the election and the result was impossible to predict.

Both parties say they want Greece to remain in the single currency but SYRIZA has pledged to scrap the bailout agreement signed in March which has imposed some of the toughest austerity measures seen in Europe in decades.

The European Union and International Monetary Fund have warned that Greece, which has only enough cash to last for a few weeks, must stick to the conditions of the bailout deal or risk seeing funds cut off.

EURO OR DRACHMA DILEMMA

New Democracy has been telling voters they must choose between the euro or the drachma, while SYRIZA promises to end the austerity measures imposed by Greece's international lenders, such as salary and pension cuts, that have driven many Greeks into abject poverty.

Fears that Greece will collapse financially and leave the euro have slowly drained Greek banks over the last two years. Central bank figures show that deposits shrank by about 17 percent, or 35.4 billion euros ($44.4 billion) in 2011 and stood 165.9 billion euros ($208.1 billion) at end-April.

Bankers said the pace was picking up ahead of the vote, with combined daily deposit outflows from the major banks at 500-800 million euros ($625 million to $1 billion) over the past few days, and 10-30 million euros ($12-36 million) at smaller banks.

"This includes cash withdrawals, wire transfers and investments into money market funds, German Bunds, U.S. Treasuries and EIB bonds," said one banker, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Retailers said consumers were stocking up on non-perishable food while almost all other goods were seeing a huge drop in sales as cash-strapped Greeks have no money to spare in the country's fifth year of recession.

"People are terrified by the prospect of returning to the drachma and some believe it's good to fill their cupboard with food products," said Vassilis Korkidis, head of the ESEE retail federation.

"It's over the top, we must not panic. Filling the cupboard with food doesn't mean we will escape the crisis," he said.