Greece vote: Reaction and updates

Vaughan Richmond: "The IMF are clutching at straws. Greece will never be able to pay any of the loans back as they are trading insolvent."

Malky: "In Reply to Raymond Ryan, from USA, actually Goldman and Sachs fiddled the books/financial situation and the EU knew about it, but ignored it to get as many countries as possible to join! the Greek people were oblivious to this, so think about the people and look at the EU and greedy bankers!"

David Williams: "It's going to make the debate and referendum on staying in the EU rather simpler for us in the UK, Is it Greece we no longer trust, or is it perhaps that the EU is not trustable."

Dave van de Gevel, Greece: "Raymond Ryan in the US, the Greeks are not ungovernable but, without doubt, have been badly governed for many years. I have lived among the Greeks for 9 years now and have been shown nothing but generosity of spirit (something you may like to try), kindness when times were tough for me and my wife and, despite all the media lies, the ordinary Greeks are damned hard workers."

"Germany is far more confident about using economic clout than diplomatic or military influence. Nevertheless, it has a deep aversion to being seen as a hectoring bully," says the BBC's Mark Mardell.

Read more on whether German muscle is threaten European solidarity here.

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The Greek deputy Finance Minister, Dimitris Mardas, has just told the state-run ERT television station that Greek banks will re-open on Monday. "From Monday, the services offered will be widened," deputy Finance Minister Dimitris Mardas said. "All the banks everywhere will be open."

But not quite as we know it, it seems. He said that restrictions on withdrawals would only be lifted gradually. So not a full-on reopening. There may be a weekly limit on withdrawals, rather than the current daily one of just 60 euros.

It has just said that Greece will put up VAT from next Monday. The Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras had promised "the streamlining of the VAT system" in his agreement with eurozone creditors.

Andy Bray: "If it wasn't such a serious situation, "have you been mis-sold an EU loan… phone Brussels 0800…" has something of a comical ring to it. Come on Germany - accept some of the blame and show a little humanity for the Greek debt or the turmoil of a Europe torn apart by strife and hatred may well be the outcome."

Judith Leonard: "The references Mr. Jean-Christophe Cambadelis makes to WW2, relative to addressing the German people, are deplorable. Only about 3% of the people now in Germany were alive during WW2. The financial help Europe received after WW2, under the Marshal Plan, came from the USA, not France. When aid was finally given to West Germany, by the USA, it was in the form of loans and was done with the disapproval of most European nations."

Dean Eyre: "Dealing with Greece and hoping for reform is like asking the Mafia to go straight ".

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Greece's banks will remain shut until at least the end of next Sunday, according to the Greek finance ministry.

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"A "Grexit" would cost creditors almost 100bn euros ($110bn) more than keeping Greece in the currency union," says Alberto Gallo, head of macro credit research at Royal Bank of Scotland Group, in an article for Bloomberg News.

"What this tells you is that policy makers are following politics instead of rational economics," he says.

Looks like action is underway. This letter has just been slipped under hotel room door in #Greece @BBCBusiness pic.twitter.com/1drAU6wQ8h

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Denmark says it is willing to chip in to help fund the EU bridging loan to Greece, even though Denmark is not part of the eurozone. "Denmark is ready to help by supporting a short term EU loan for Greece in the interim," said Denmark's finance minister Claus Frederiksen. That rather contrasts with the UK's hostile attitude, revealed this evening.

Raymond Ryan in the US says: "Greece lied getting into EU. Greece lied in both earlier bailouts and again now in the third bailout - all this in only 15 years. The idea that one can humiliate Greece over money is laughable. Greece is currently ungovernable by Greeks. A protectorate is required for a time."

Stuart Williamson adds: "The EFSM is an EU wide facility available under qualified majority voting, and which was not intended to be used in support of the euro."

And Dave Horne says: "So there's seven million euros down the drain, class, pure class, bet we won't find the people responsible for this when the Greeks fail to pay again!"

Here are the next stages in the Greek crisis:

• EU member states to back eurozone decision on €7bn bridge loan to clear Greece's immediate debts (expected Friday)

• German parliament to back negotiations on €86bn eurozone bailout deal (Friday)

• Greek parliament to pass further reforms (22 July)

• Lengthy eurozone talks to start on bailout through European Stability Mechanism

"We have today secured a significant victory and strengthened the protections for the UK in the latest Greek bailout and any future bailouts of Eurozone countries," says the Chancellor George Osborne about the deal struck to protect UK money from the impact of the Greek bailout.

"I made clear to my European counterparts that this was an absolute red line for Britain," he adds.

"A collapse in UK exports to Greece following continued uncertainty around Greece will not have a material impact on the UK economy directly, as Greece makes up only about 0.5% of total UK exports. It is however more important for the UK economy that confidence in Greece, and indeed the eurozone as a whole, is restored. For this to happen, the Greek economy needs to find a base from which it can build."

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"I had no choice but leave if I wanted to work, I had no prospect of employment in Greece. I would love to go back, my whole life is back there. But logic stops me from returning at the moment," says Foteini Ploumbi, who left Greece in 2013.

A very interesting piece from the BBC's Lucy Rodgers and Nassos Stylianou looking at just how bad things are for the people of Greece at the moment.

The Treasury says it has secured a legally binding agreement to protect British taxpayers money from the latest Greek bailout and from any future eurozone bailouts. A spokesman for the chancellor said it would also apply to other non-eurozone members of the EU.

The agreement is the result of negotiations between the government, the European commission and other members states over a seven billion euro loan to Greece using the European Financial Stability Mechanism, which includes all 28 EU members.

The spokesman said there would be a change to EU law.

The deal means a cash fund will be held by the European Central Bank, to cover any liabilities which would have fallen to British or other non-eurozone taxpayers. The deal has the support of the commission and the majority of other EU members and is due to take effect in 24 hours time.

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On the foreign exchanges, the pound has risen to its highest level against the euro since 2007.

In London the pound closed at €1.434. The pound fell slightly against the US currency to $1.56.

Also in London, the FTSE 100 share index rose 43 points to 6,796.

In Paris the Cac-40 rose 74 points to 5,122.

And in Frankfurt the Dax index also rose strongly, up 177 points to 11,717.

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Jean-Christophe Cambadelis, head of France's ruling Socialist party, has issued an open letter to the German people on Thursday. He has told them to review their place in Europe.

"Europe, my dear friend, does not understand your country's stubbornness in blindly pursuing the path of austerity," he wrote. "Has your country forgotten the support France gave right after all the atrocious crimes committed in your name?"

The letter lists French support for Germany's recovery from the ashes of World War Two, including the US-backed Marshall Plan of 1947, a 1953 agreement to cut Germany's foreign-held debt, and the diplomatic green light for German reunification after the 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall.

"Berlin should recall this history lesson just as it is giving Athens a lesson in housekeeping," wrote Cambadelis.

The closure of the banks has been the most visible aspect of the severe financial restrictions that have been choking the country's economic activity. Behind the scenes paying for imports has become more complex and increasingly suppliers have demanded payment in advance. Many businesses are insisting on payment in cash - even though transfers between Greek bank accounts are permitted. The IMF said the closure of the banks has also led to a deterioration of the government's financial situation. But if Greece is moving towards a new bailout, the short term pressures could begin to ease.

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Maria McKay in London says: "This is not an economic settlement; the Greeks cannot pay back their debts given the current state of their economy."

Chris Brown says: "It's the longest "kicking the can down the road" that I've heard so far."

Ken Gilmour adds: "All those smiles and hand shaking. Relief that everything is fixed, and the problems solved. It reminds me very much of the time a British Prime Minister arrived from Munich waving a piece of paper."

More to come.

At this afternoon's press conference, Mario Draghi, head of the ECB, was asked why information about its policy on emergency bank lending kept having to be prised out of his officials, instead of just being announced openly?

He said things would change: "In the past there was a certain reticence to publish the numbers of ELA (Emergency Liquidity Assistance) because the whole ELA concept was born as to address liquidity shortages of individual banks."

He went on: "Now... we're talking about a systemic problem, not any longer about an individual bank and individual institution short of collateral. So we are in fact revising our communication about ELA. There is absolutely no reason to keep things secret now when we're addressing a massive systemic problem, a macroeconomic problem."

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Just to round up this afternoon's developments:

1. Greek banks may reopen on Monday, says Reuters.

2. The Eurogroup (countries that use the euro) says it will now start negotiations on a three-year bailout for Greece.

3. European Union finance ministers have agreed on Thursday to use their EFSM (European Financial Stability Mechanism) to make a short-term bridging loan to the Greek government of seven billion euros.

4. The European Central Bank (ECB) has expanded, slightly, its emergency funding for Greek banks.

And from earlier this afternoon, the statement by the Eurogroup (the informal grouping of the eurozone countries) saying they will start negotiating a three-year bailout for Greece: http://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2015/07/16-eurogroup-statement-greece/

Reuters from Athens reports that Greek banks will reopen on Monday. The news agency quotes an anonymous "senior banker" saying "they will open on Monday".

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Hardly anyone has put their head above the parapet to say that the fraught "rescue" deal for Greece really has any chance of reviving the Greek economy, now or in the future. Until now.

Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission, says the deal will be successful "under the assumption that the whole program will be implemented".'

Speaking during a two-day visit to Cyprus, he said "others should take note'' of Cyprus' full implementation of its 2013 bailout deal that "paid off".

He also confirmed that the European Union has agreed a short-term loan to Greece until the middle of next month.

Back to the main financial development of the day - the eurozone's plan to use its EFSM (european financial stabilisation mechanism) to lend seven billion euros to Greece.

Chris Morris says: "Using the EFSM is an emergency measure, and not without controversy. But the European Commission says it is the only way to get seen billion euros of funding to Greece straight away - the government in Athens needs the money to make debt repayments at the beginning of next week."

"Officials say eurozone finance ministers have now signed up to the idea of using the EFSM, but as it involves all EU member states all will need to be consulted. That is a decision that should be made tomorrow, and it needs a qualified majority to be approved."

"But it's not clear yet how non-eurozone countries will be protected, as promised, from any negative financial consequences. The UK thought it had a cast iron agreement that the EFSM would never again be used for eurozone rescues."

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Continuing with his theme that things are looking up (at least a little), Mr Draghi said he was confident that Greece would repay some of its loans, from the ECB and the International Monetary Fund, on 20 July as scheduled.

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If you are interested here is a list of the MPs who voted against the reforms, abstained or were not present at the vote last night. Most of the rebels were from Left Platform and Communist Organisation of Greece, both affiliated to Syriza.

Mr Draghi told a news conference: "The ECB has acted... under the assumption that Greece will remain a member of the euro area... so the ECB continues to act on the assumption that Greece is and will... remain a member of the euro area."

He added: "We had a series of news: with the approval of the bridge financing package, with the votes - the various votes in various parliaments to begin with in the Greek parliament - which have now restored the conditions for a raise in ELA."

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Mr Draghi doesn't offer an opinion when asked this rather obvious question. But he says that decision is up to the Greek government. And he points out that capital controls in Greece have protected depositors, who he points out are these days mainly small depositors.

Why such a small rise today in the ELA (Emergency Liquidity Assistance) to Greek banks? Mr Draghi says he was simply responding to the latest request from the Greek national bank. "We have accommodated the Bank of Greece's request completely and fully," he told journalists.

The new ELA is worth €89.9bn to Greek banks, according to Mr Draghi, the European Central Bank's president. That's an increase of €900m. The central bank's total "exposure" to Greece is €130bn now, he says.

The ECB puts it more succinctly:

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Mario Draghi tells a press conference that the European Central Bank has increased the Emergency Liquidity Assistance to Greek banks - the cash propping them up. "The decision we took to raise ELA again today was symmetrical to ... freezing ELA... after the breakdown of negotiations and the likely default to the IMF… Things have changed now. We had a series of news, with the approval of the bridge financing package and the various votes in the Greek parliament which have" allowed an increased ELA.

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Greece may hold an election in September or October, the interior minister said, after a revolt by some politicians in the Syriza party forced the government to rely on opposition votes to pass a vital bailout bill in parliament. "It is very possible that elections take place in September or October, depending on developments. That will be the product of a comprehensive review, not only by the government, on developments in general," Interior Minister Nikos Voutsis said.

Alex White is regional director for Europe at the Economist Intelligence Unit. He tweets:  

The European Central bank has kept its key interest rate on hold at 0.05%. ECB chief Mario Draghi will hold a news conference at 13:30 BST (14:30 local), which will be closely watched for any news on emergency funding for Greek banks.

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Finland has given its backing to the start of Greek bailout negotiations and for a short-term loan of €7bn. The approval was given at a meeting of the parliament's Grand Commission, which has 25 members and rules on EU matters.

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Will Prime Minister Tsipras survive the current turmoil? "His first move is probably going to be a cabinet reshuffle, and then he is going to have to look into other options," says Anna-Misel Asimakopoulou, an MP with the opposition New Democracy party. She is keen to point out that her party did not negotiate the package, but wants to stay in the euro, so voted in favour of it. "We have to move forward and implement these reforms as quickly as possible, because they are pretty much the only chance we have of turning around the economy."

Macropolis researches the economics and politics of Greece. It tweets:

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The European Central Bank is likely to extend its emergency lending to Greek banks according to Austria's finance minister, Hans Joerg Schelling. In a radio interview he said he had heard that from "ECB sources". Mr Schelling also doubted whether an agreement on bridge financing could be finalised by Friday afternoon.

 Omaira Gill is a freelance journalist in Athens. She tweets:   

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Finance ministers from the eurozone have agreed, in principal, to extend a €7bn bridge loan to Greece, according to the Bloomberg news service. The report says it will be announced officially tomorrow when technical details are worked out. It is not clear at the moment where the funds will come from. Yesterday it was thought finance minister would tap the ESFM fund, a move which was strongly resisted by some EU nations, particularly the UK government.

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Sterling rose to its strongest level in 7-1/2-years against the euro. £1 now buys €1.4322. As we reported earlier, the euro dipped against the dollar after the Greek government approved a new austerity plan, while traders bet the Bank of England will raise interest rates early next year.

European markets rose after Greek politicians approved an austerity bill needed for another bailout, with London's FTSE 100 up 0.54% to 6,790.42. Germany's DAX leaped 1.5% to 11,715.69 and France's CAC 40 surged 1.6% to 5,127.09.

Dixons Carphone says it is actually doing well in Greece, with its Kotsovolos stores flogging more large-screen televisions. "We do however remain very mindful of the uncertain economic and political situation in the country and the effect this may have on our business. The team have been very active in planning for every contingency," it said. It's been reported that fear of a euro exit has prompted some Greeks to buy goods rather than hold cash.

Slovak Finance Minister Peter Kazimir says that he welcomes the Greek parliament's approval of reforms but said the more difficult part of the deal to keep Greece in the eurozone is still ahead. 

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The FT considers the IMF report which described Greek debt as "highly unsustainable". EU officials were "baffled" when the IMF released it ahead of the Greek parliamentary vote, it says. The move risks upsetting nations that contribute to the IMF, the FT reports.

The Wall St Journal has some interesting analysis on how Greece's situation plays into the theme of brimming national debts worldwide. High debt and low economic growth are not just Greece's problem and other countries will have to make new borrowing arrangements, the newspaper agues.

The Telegraph reports that more Greek citizens are looking for jobs in the UK to escape the crisis at home.

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Here are the headlines from Greek newspapers this morning, courtesy of BBC Monitoring.

Ethnos: Tsipras's next moves after the cracks

Kathimerini: 229 "yes" and a schism in Syriza

Efimerida ton Syntakton: He continues wounded until further notice

Ta Nea: Clash on the podium, consensus on the measures

Dimokratia: VAT... bearing a sickle

Eleftheros Typos: "yes" to the deal, "no" to Tsipras

I Avyi: We move on...

Rizospastis: Do not surrender! There is a way out with the workers' fight

It's not just Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras who's under pressure from parliamentary colleagues over this deal, says World Service economics correspondent Andrew Walker. German Premier Angela Merkel is facing "some real opposition in her CDU party", he says. Chances are the deal will get German parliamentary approval, though, he adds.

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A Greek exit from the euro "is still very much on the table" says Lena Komileva, managing director of G+ Market Economics on Business Live. One problem is that politicians in Germany and other countries think that Greece will renege on its promises to implement tough reforms, she says. Also, the IMF does not want to contribute to the bailout without debt relief. But debt relief is a "no-go area", according to Ms Komileva.

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The European Central Bank (ECB) could decide this morning on the level of emergency funding it is prepared to offer Greek banks. It is thought any increase of its Emergency Liquidity Assistance (ELA) would be modest and only allow continued limited banking. The ECB will want confirmation that the European Union is extending some short-term financing to Greece that would allow it to pay a €3.5bn payment to the ECB on 20 July. Eurozone finance ministers are holding a conference call this morning to discuss that short-term help.

The Syriza party will survive in the short term, reports the BBC's Tony Bonsignore from Athens. Prime Minister Tsipras is still very popular - most people like his honesty, Tony says. Mr Tsipras has said he hates the reform deal, but Greece has no choice. That is keeping a lot of supporters on board, says Tony, on World Service Radio.

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The euro has fallen a little this morning following that vote in the Greek parliament in the early hours of the morning - €1 currently buys $1.0932 on the international market. The sharp fall came yesterday afternoon as the chart above shows. The dollar was strengthened yesterday by comments from US Federal Reserve chief Janet Yellen which reinforced views that the Fed will raise interest rates later this year. "I think the factor for the euro is monetary policy divergence rather than Greece," said Masashi Murata, currency strategist for Brown Brothers Harriman in Tokyo.

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Elena Panaritis is an economist and former MP for the Pasok party in Greece. She was an adviser to the former finance minister Yanis Varoufakis and was appointed as Greek envoy to the IMF in May, but stood down amid opposition from Syriza MPs. She tells Today: "We have had five years of very serious austerity" which hasn't suited the Greek economy and has led to an economic downturn, she says. How more austerity will work remains to be seen, she said.

Mark Mardell is presenter of the BBC's The World This Weekend. He blogs.

Quote Message: Germany has decided, for the moment, that it wants the eurozone to remain intact. If this holds, it will inevitably lead to calls for closer political union to manage the currency in lines with German interests - the former Belgium Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt has told me the 19 countries need a single treasury and central taxation otherwise they might as well abandon the euro. There is a logic here - but it pulls counter to the mood of the times.

Germany has decided, for the moment, that it wants the eurozone to remain intact. If this holds, it will inevitably lead to calls for closer political union to manage the currency in lines with German interests - the former Belgium Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt has told me the 19 countries need a single treasury and central taxation otherwise they might as well abandon the euro. There is a logic here - but it pulls counter to the mood of the times.

You can read more from Mark's blog here.

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"Even those who voted against [the reforms] expressed their confidence in the Prime Minister," says George Katrougalos Minister of Administrative Reform at the Ministry of Interior. "He has gave a battle with impossible odds... he has avoided disaster, closure of the banks and sudden death of the economy," Mr Katrougalos said. "There are fractures in the monolithic block against," he says - referring to the report from the IMF saying Greek debt is highly unsustainable.

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The combative German finance minister, Wolfgang Schaeuble has been speaking to German radio. He says that debt forgiveness is "not possible" while inside the euro. But he also says that it is unclear how to restore Greece's finances without some kind of reduction in debt. That's reported by Bloomberg news this morning. Earlier this week the IMF said that Greece's debt was "highly unsustainable" and needed a reduction.

Gabriel Sterne, an economist and head of Global Macro Research at Oxford Economics, reminds us this deal still has to get through the German parliament. Even if it does get approval, it could still fail. Mr Sterne says points out that IMF analysis shows the plan "really wont work." Greek GDP could sink a further 5%, he thinks. "There will have to be outright transfers" of money to Greece, he says.

Hugo Dixon founder of BreakingViews tweets:

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More from Tanya, this time on Today. The outcome was almost never in doubt, but the run up to it was very acrimonious, she said. "It was very difficult in the sense there were fiery scenes, not just outside parliament with petrol bombs," she says. The banks are still closed, which is hampering businesses, especially importers.

Holger Zschäpitz is a senior editor on the financial desk at Die Welt newspaper. He tweets:

Writer Diane Shugart tweets:

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Members of the Eurogroup will discuss the outcome of the Greek vote in a telephone conference call this morning, at 09:00 BST (10:00 local). The priority is to approve some emergency funding, so that Greece can pay money owed to the European Central Bank on 20 July, reports the BBC's Tanya Beckett from outside the Greek parliament for BBC World TV.

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A final count showed that 229 members of the Greek parliament, out of 300, voted in favour of a tough package of measures. The opposition party, New Democracy supported the Prime Minister Tsipras. New Democracy MP Anna-Misel Asimakopoulou justified that support by saying that "80% of the Greek people want to stay in the eurozone". However with 38 Syriza MPs voting against Mr Tsipras she told the BBC "clearly the Prime Minister has to make some decisions about how he is going to go forward, he has lost a large portion of his parliamentarians".

Good morning. In the early hours of this morning the Greek parliament voted in favour of a package of tough measures that opens the way to a third bailout deal. But there was a major rebellion in the governing coalition and riot police had to break-up violent protests.