Greek banks, stock exchange to close for a week

Greek banks and the Athens stock exchange will remain closed all week, following a decision by the European Central Bank not to extend emergency funding.

In a decree signed by Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, the government admitted to an "extremely urgent" need to protect the financial system due to the lack of liquidity.

The decree said that all banks would be kept shut until after the referendum on 5 July and withdrawals from cash machines would be limited to €60 a day.

The ATM withdrawal limits will not apply to holders of credit or debit cards issued in foreign countries.

Foreign transfers out of Greece have been prohibited, but online transactions between Greek bank accounts will continue as normal. Tsipras has insisted pensions and wages would be unaffected by the controls.

The decree said that the measures were agreed as a result of the Eurozone's decision "to refuse the extension of the loan agreement with Greece". However, it said that the cashpoints would "operate normally again by Monday noon at the latest" and Tsipras has insisted that Greek deposits are safe.

Greeks have been queuing up in front of ATMs to withdraw money all weekend, leaving several cash machines dry.

Greece risks defaulting on its loans and potentially exiting the Eurozone. Such fears of a Greek exit led to shares across Asia plummeting, with the euro dropping 2% against the US dollar.

Greece is due to make a €1.6bn payment to the International Monetary Fund on Tuesday - the same day that its current bailout deal expires. Negotiations between Greece and the Eurozone member states over bailout terms ended without an agreement, prompting Tsipras to call a referendum on the issue.

Eurozone finance ministers blamed Greece for breaking off the talks, while the European Commission took the unusual step on Sunday of publishing the European creditors’ proposals that were on the table at the time. However, Greece criticised the creditors' terms as "not viable", and asked for an extension of its current deal until after the vote was completed.

"[Rejection] of the Greek government's request for a short extension of the programme was an unprecedented act by European standards, questioning the right of a sovereign people to decide," Tsipras on Sunday said in a televised address.