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Monday, April 20, 2015

Athens is draining money from local governments as it desperately tries to avoid a default

The Greek state is now forcing local governments to transfer their funds to the country's central bank, according to the analysts at Macropolis. Athens has already put pressure on state-run utilities to do the same. That provides a heavier buffer against any potential default, but it leaves the local authorities in a dreadful position — and even if Greece does get bailed out by its international creditors, much of that cash will have to be used to replenish the local governments and state firms afterwards. It's also a sign that the government isn't too confident in its own financial position, though no-one outside knows quite how close a default is.  Greek private sector organisations are also beginning to complain that they have not been compensated for work outsourced to them — though such occurrences are not uncommon in Greece and happened prior to Syriza's election in January. It's starting to look pretty unlikely that Greece will get fresh bailout funds on Friday as it had hoped, and talks will have to get a lot more productive very soon before the next International Monetary Fund repayments, which are due in mid-May.  Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: 'Game of Thrones': The Iron Throne is a terrible investment


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