Anxious Greeks buy Macs and PlayStations while they still can

As the going gets tough in Greece, the Greeks are going shopping.

The government was forced to extend capital controls and keep banks closed until at least tomorrow as money runs out with no new bailout imminent.

While some people are using their remaining euro to buy staples to cover daily needs, others are hitting electronics and appliance stores for Apple computers and Sony PlayStations to max out credit and debit cards where vendors still accept them.

“People are spending the money they have in the bank because otherwise they’re afraid they won’t get it out,” said Natasa, 33, a shop assistant at electronics retailer Plaisio Computer in central Athens.

She asked not to be identified by her full name. “A Mac is something that keeps its value,” she added, pointing to a gleaming 68cm screen.

It is the latest chapter in five long years of crisis for Greeks as their government resists calls from creditors for more austerity in return for rescue money. Greeks have pulled about €40bn from banks since December, when it became clear elections would be held and prime minister Alexis Tsipras’s Syriza was set to take power.

Daily withdrawals at cash machines have been limited to €60 since June 29, while credit and debit cards payments were not restricted.

A shopping spree took place in the run-up to Sunday’s referendum, in which Greeks rejected more austerity, Antonis Zairis, vice-president of the Hellenic Retail Business Association, said in an interview.

“It was a short-term phenomenon caused by panic and threats,” he said.

At Delhaize Group, which operates the second-largest food retailer in Greece, demand for groceries is at peak levels, spokesman Frank van Daele said. Lidl also said it had seen an increase in customers in Greece.

Newspapers have floated the idea of ‘kourema’, or a one-time charge on deposits, which is what happened in Cyprus in 2013 to accounts holding more than €100,000 to shore up banks.