Athens--Greece said Thursday it would not be "blackmailed" and insisted its banks were secure after the European Central Bank moved to restrict Greek lenders' access to a key source of cash.
"The Greek republic does not intend to blackmail anyone but will not be blackmailed either," a government source said, adding that the Greek banking system "was fully secure".
In an announcement late Wednesday, the ECB said it would no longer allow Greek banks to use government debt as collateral for loans.
Athens views this decision as "an act of political pressure to enable the rapid conclusion of an agreement" with Greece's international creditors, the government source said.
"The liquidity and funding of Greek banks is fully safeguarded by the ELA mechanism," the source added, referring to the ECB's emergency liquidity assistance programme that has been a financial lifeline for Greek banks.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras spoke with ECB chief Mario Draghi late Wednesday, after the bank announcement, government spokesman Gabriel Sakellaridis said.
While declining to give details, he told private Mega TV: "We are prepared to talk to all our creditors."
"(We want) all sides to understand that Greece is being subjected to an irrational policy," he said, adding that Athens wanted to find a solution "without a gun to our head".
Tsipras' anti-austerity government came to power after last week's election on a promise to renegotiate Greece's 240-billio-euro ($275-billion) EU-IMF bailout and erase over half the country's debt.
He and Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis have been holding a flurry of meetings with EU leaders and ECB officials this week in the hope of drawing allies to Greece's cause.
Varoufakis was due to meet his German counterpart Wolfgang Schaeuble on Thursday, and Berlin has adamantly ruled out any debt relief for Athens.
Sakellaridis said the ECB's move could speed efforts to reach agreement on Greece's demands.
"This pressure can lead all sides to reach a solution, a mutually beneficial solution," he told Mega.
The Greek stock market plunged more than nine percent in early trading before recovering some of its losses.
AFP
