The Greek government’s well-received tour of European capitals came to an abrupt halt last night when the European Central Bank revoked a waiver that allowed banks to use Greek government debt as collateral for loans.
The ECB also said it was no longer able to assume that there would be a successful conclusion to the Greek government’s bailout talks with its lenders — the troika of the International Monetary Fund, the European Union and the ECB.
The announcement came hours after Yanis Varoufakis, the Greek finance minister, had met Mario Draghi, the ECB president. The central bank said that the suspension was in line with eurozone rules.
The ban also covers Greek government-guaranteed bank debt, used as a source of collateral for the country’s lenders.