Greece Sets June 17 for Vote

Greek political leaders set June 17 as the date of the next election, although no official announcement has been made. Earlier Wednesday, Greek officials expressed concern that citizens are withdrawing euros from banks over fear of the country exiting the single currency and the rapid devaluation they would suffer as a result. In a meeting between Greek President Karolos Papoulias and political leaders, Papoulias spoke of the “fear that could develop into panic” at the country’s banks as the political parties failed to form a coalition government and a new election was announced. Central bank head George Provopoulos said Greeks had withdrawn at least €700 million ($894 million) on Monday. Meanwhile, the London stock exchange, the FTSE, was down Wednesday on the news from Greece.