Capital flight

With fears of a Greek exit from the European common currency looming large, Greek citizens have transferred an estimated 30 billion euros ($43.2 billion) to foreign bank accounts for safekeeping.

Greek Parlamentarian Panagiotis Nikoloudis, head of a government committee on money laundering, told reporters in Athens in March that "even nuns have sent money abroad."

The Greek government is offering a reduced tax rate of 8 percent on funds brought back into the country, but most of money remains firmly lodged in Cyprus, Switzerland and Great Britain.

Even German banks are looking to profit from Greek capital outflows.

We speak Greek

The Stadtsparkasse Munich savings bank, for example, recently hung out storefront signs in both German and Greek offering consultations with Greek-speaking staff, Germany's Bild newspaper reported Wednesday.

The bank already has some 500 Greek customers and no shortage of inquiries, one of the bank's customer service representatives told Bild.

Joachim Fröhler, a spokesman for Stadtsparkasse Munich, distanced himself from Bild's article when contacted by Deutsche Welle. The bank has offered advice in Greek for several years, and does the same in other languages common to Munich such as Turkish or Croatian, he said.

Diaspora appeal

Meanwhile the Greek government is planning to issue a bond aimed at members of the Greek Diaspora. It hopes to help plug the 340-billion-euro hole in its finances by soliciting investment from people of Greek origin in Europe, the United States and Australia.

The bonds are expected to run between three and 10 years, offering below-market interest rates, Greek Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou told the Greek daily newspaper Eleftherotypia in January.

Author: Gerhard Schneibel
Editor: Sam Edmonds