Hopes of ‘last minute’ solution for Greek debt stem sell-off

Pledges to work until the “last minute” to seek a debt deal with Greece steadied the nerves of investors today despite a fresh flood of withdrawals from the nation’s beleaguered banks.

European Central Bank rate-setters held emergency talks today over liquidity assistance to Greece’s banks amid reports that savers pulled €1 billion (£710 million) out of accounts yesterday — taking the total withdrawals since last weekend’s talks to €3 billion.

Shares in Europe stabilised after days of falls as a senior aide to German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the nation would negotiate with Athens “until the last minute” over a deal to unlock €7.2 billion in bailout funding and prevent a default.

Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras also fostered hopes of agreement, saying “those who bank on crisis and terror scenarios will be proved wrong”. European stock markets — including shares in Athens — edged upwards after a turbulent week.

Eurozone leaders will hold another emergency meeting on Monday. Simon Derrick, analyst at BNY Mellon, said capital controls — bans on the amounts savers can remove from Greek banks — could be in place next week unless a deal is struck.

“It’s a real possibility. I think there has to be an agreement on Monday. We saw in Cyprus two years ago [when capital controls were introduced] that things can move very quickly.”