Travelling to Greece and money – latest developments

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Travelling to Greece and money: If you’re travelling to Greece and are worried about the latest developments that have seen capital restrictions come into place, you can rest easy. The restriction of withdrawals up to €60 a day from ATMs only applies to Greeks and not foreign visitors.

Τhe Ministry for Economy, Infrastructure, Shipping and Tourism relased a statement this morning saying:

“[The Ministry] would like inform visitors to Greece that capital controls introduced by the Greek Government do not apply to those wishing to withdraw money from an ATM or carry out any other type of transaction using credit or debit cards issued abroad.

“Moreover, the Ministry does not anticipate any inconvenience in visitor’s every day holiday experiences, neither in the islands nor in mainland Greece, as there are adequate fuel supplies, products and services.

“Greece continues to offer the highest quality of tourism services to its visitors, who have ranked Greece as one of the best holiday destinations worldwide.”

The Deputy Minister for Tourism, Mrs Elena Kountoura said: “Visitors currently in Greece as well as people planning to visit Greece will not be affected by the latest developments and they can continue to enjoy their holiday in Greece without any problems whatsoever.”

Companies here in the UK have advised travellers to take a mixture of cash and credit cards with them.

Noel Josephides of leading Greece and Cyprus specialist Sunvil said: “The best advice wherever you are travelling, is always to take a mix of cash and cards. Sunvil will make sure its agents have sufficient cash should this be required for clients (exactly as it did in 2012, although this proved unnecessary in the event), and will simply take the amount back via clients’ cards if needed.”

Greek banks will be closed from today until July 6 – the day after the country’s referendum on the latest EU proposals – after the European Central Bank decided not to extend emergency funding keeping Greek banks solvent.

Foreign exchange specialists Travelex echoed Josephides advice saying: “As always, we still recommend you take a combination of cards and cash, however you should take enough Euros to last you for the first week of your stay – and then keep your Euros topped up there afterwards.

“If you are planning to be on one of the islands for any length of time, you may want to take more Euros than usual as it could take longer for Euros to be supplied to the islands if there are any disruptions.”

Holidaymakers are also advised to keep up to breast of the situation via the Foreign Office at www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/greece