It’s too close to call as polls open in Greece’s make-or-break referendum

Polls have opened in the Greece bailout referendum, as voters decide whether to accept a deal offered by the country’s creditors. Opinion polls suggest the Yes and No camps are neck-and-neck. Prime minister Alexis Tsipras has insisted a No vote would allow his government to push for a better bailout package. He has strongly indicated he will step down if the Greek people back the terms offered by the EU, the IMF and the European Central Bank.

A deteriorating import-dependent economy will provoke a rapid decline in public support for the government and fresh elections may become inevitable, but this will take time.

Dimitri Sotiropoulos, political science professor at the University of Athens

Meanwhile, many Greek shoppers have been panic buying from supermarkets ahead of the vote - purchasing essentials such as pasta and flour. Many businesses said they had been forced to ask workers to take unpaid leave, some shops were refusing card payments in an effort to hoard cash and there were reports of companies paying workers in IOUs valid in local supermarkets. Banks across the country have been closed for the past week, with customers only able to withdraw €60 a day from cash machines. In a final mass rally held in Athens on Friday night, Mr Tsipras had told a 25,000-strong crowd: “On Sunday, we don’t just decide to stay in Europe - we decide to live with dignity in Europe, to work and prosper in Europe.”

I’ve heard shops are running out of flour, sugar and salt. I’m really worried, how will we manage if we can’t get to our money and there’s no food to buy?

Lena Antoniou, a 35-year old mother of two, told AFP

Business Greece