Greece’s ongoing financial crisis has raised fears of bankruptcy to such levels that people from all walks of life – ‘even nuns’ – are moving their billions of euros to safety overseas, a Greek politician said Wednesday.
Greece’s treasury said it estimated about 30 billion euros (42.4 billion dollars) have been moved from Greek banks since the beginning of 2010 by nationals who fear the country will default or that there could be increased government scrutiny on assets.
Panagiotis Nikoloudis, the head of the parliamentary committee for money laundering, said it was not only the super-wealthy elite that have holdings in bank accounts overseas, with Switzerland, Luxemburg, Great Britain and Cyprus among the favoured destinations.
‘You would be very surprised because even nuns have sent their money abroad,’ he said.
In an effort to boost state revenues and shrink its bloated budget deficit, the Greek government has passed a tax law where undeclared deposits in bank accounts outside Greece can be repatriated at an 8- per-cent tax rate.
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