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19 March 2024

Sugar, flour, rice: Panicked Greeks stock up

Anti-austerity demonstrators hold placards and cheer at a rally in Trafalgar Square in central London on July 4, 2015 in solidarity with those voting 'No' in Greece's forthcoming referendum. Greece braced itself Saturday ahead of a make-or-break bailout referendum as polls showed the 'Yes' and 'No' camps neck and neck and uncertainty rose over the future of the country's battered economy. (AFP)

Published
By AFP

Greeks voted Sunday in a tightly fought referendum on whether to accept worsening austerity in exchange for more bailout funds, or reject it in a gamble that could see it crash out of the euro.

Polling stations were open across the country of 11 million people - on far-flung Aegean islands, in the shadow of the 2,400-year-old Parthenon in Athens, to the northern border shared with fellow EU state Bulgaria.

The outcome was far from certain. Polls suggest the 'Yes' and 'No' camps are neck-and-neck.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras insists a 'No' victory would strengthen his hand in negotiations with the country's international creditors. But EU leaders warn it would effectively be a vote to leave the 19-nation eurozone - a so-called 'Grexit'.

Stocking up

Greeks were hoarding cash and food Saturday amid mounting fears the economy could collapse, cracking open their wallets only to stock up on essentials and stripping supermarket shelves in the process.

Mothers, elderly men and university students were spotted pushing heavily overloaded trolleys or coming out of shops weighed down by bags of food, with essentials such as sugar, flour and pasta top of the list.

In the well-off area of Glyfada in Athens residents appeared to have panicked, thrusting everything from vast rolls of toilet paper to multiple packs of lentils into their carts.

"Most people are buying food now because they fear the worst," said Andreas Koutras, a 51-year old who works in finance.

AFP photographs showed rows upon rows of empty shelves in supermarkets and shoppers said they were taking no chances, snapping up canned milk, chocolate and rice - anything non-perishable that could be stored.

Middle-aged toy shop assistant Marilena, who was praying for customers on what is usually the busiest shopping day of the week, said her family was buying "food, only food, nothing else. Only what's necessary".

Nikos Archondis from the Panhellenic Exporters Association (PEA) told AFP "certain supermarkets are very concerned because they cannot forecast how the situation will evolve".

Stocks of meat, cheeses, fruits and vegetables "risk running low in the following weeks", he said.

Run on medicines

Reports that medicines were also flying off the shelves were supported by pharmacist Yannis Triantaphilou.

Priorities were "food and medicines" and he had seen "an increase of customers in the pharmacy".

Although the boost in business was welcome, Triantaphilou said if the banks did not re-open on Tuesday, "I don't know how we are going to work, if companies will provide medicines".

With anti-bailout 'No' voters tied neck and neck with the 'Yes' camp, fears a financial disaster may be brewing were compounded by frustration over the decision taken by many shops to refuse card payments.

With government-imposed capital controls capping ATM withdrawals at 60 euros ($67) per day, the number of banknotes in circulation has dropped dramatically, especially the smaller denominations.

Customers want to save their cash, but businesses are also desperate to get their hands on it.

Fortunately, "we have learned to live with less money," says Marilena, "because the last four to five years were very difficult for most of people."

"But we have needs, we adjust of course... but we cannot go any further," she said.

Like many Greeks, taxi driver Theodor Veletzas said he believed there was more at stake than a new deal, and the situation risked getting worse.

The referendum, he insisted, would effectively decide whether his country stayed in the eurozone or not. And he feared what would happen if the 'No' camp won.

"There are no banknotes in circulation. Shops are closed and people have no notes with which to buy food. I hope people will vote on Sunday to stay in Europe. We don't want another adventure", he said.