Starving Greeks Line up for Food in the Thousands

Starving Greeks queued around the block for free food handouts as the country's politicians managed to end a crippling stalemate to form a coalition government. Young children as well as the elderly waited in line in Athens to collect the parcels of fruit and vegetables donated by farmers from Crete to help ease the devastating austerity faced by many Greeks.

But as hungry people collected food, a few miles away a new conservative-led alliance was formed, vowing to renegotiate the country's strict European bailout in a bid to breath economic life back into the debt-stricken country. Conservative Antonis Samaras was sworn in as prime minister and head of a three-party coalition that will uphold the country's international bailout commitments.

Cretan farmers handed out some 2,700 10-kilo packages of produce, in cooperation with the capital's municipal authorities. Among the people lining up was Panayiota Sidera, 31, from Athens. She said she has been unemployed for two-and-a-half years and her husband is also out of a job. The couple is living on a (euro) 250 monthly disability pension and rent from an apartment they own, and has a (euro) 540-a-month loan installment to pay. Read more >>

Greeks Withdraw $1 Billion a Day Ahead of Vote

Placard: In union and in left, we turn the impossible to possible 

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.  Read more >>

More Than 1000 Businesses Close Every Week in Greece

While Greek politicians squabble over who can – or can’t – form a coalition government in the wake of May 6 elections in which anti-austerity rage caused a fractured result, more than 1,000 businesses in Greece are closing up shop each week, victims of a deep recession caused by pay cuts, tax hikes and slashed pensions that have made many Greeks simply stop spending on anything than goods needed for their survival.

Figures released by the National Confederation of Hellenic Commerce showed that retail sales during the Greek Easter period were down 18 to 21 percent in the apparel/footwear category and 11-13 percent at department stores compared to last year, despite offerings of up to 60-90 percent off.

Shoppers in major retail stores reported seeing almost no one buying in recent days as political instability over the elections and expected new elections have rattled Greeks as much as European officials who fear Greece could be forced out of the Eurozone of countries using the euro and return to its ancient drachma, completing the country’s economic collapse. Turnover was also down from 2011, declining to $5.82 billion from $6.46 billion in 2022. More...