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Athens: As their government scrambled to pull together a new package of proposals to take to Brussels, Greeks have been hit with more bad news: their banks will stay shut until at least Thursday – and may run out of cash altogether by the end of the week.
The day after Greece voted to reject Europe's previous austerity-themed rescue package for the near-bankrupt country, the joy of "no' voters was quickly tempered by signs that their economic woes are set only to get worse, at least in the short term.
Monday began with the surprise resignation of finance minister Yanis Varoufakis, the confrontational economics professor who proved a necessary sacrifice in bringing Europe and Greece's creditors back to the negotiating table.
He literally jumped on his motorbike and drove out of Athens, leaving his colleagues locked in talks with other Greek political parties about tactics ahead of Tuesday's emergency Euro summit in Brussels.
Mr Varoufakis has been replaced by Oxford-educated economist Euclid Tsakalotos, who said he was "nervous and anxious" about the challenge he faced in finding a viable solution for Greece.
Prime minister Alexis Tsipras met with his political allies and opponents for almost five hours on Monday, emerging with a joint statement signed by almost the entire political spectrum backing his efforts to seek a new deal from the country's creditors.
Large parts of Greece's economy have been paralysed by the capital controls imposed at the start of last week to prevent the collapse of the banks.
Businesses must make special applications to buy goods – such as food, petrol and medicine – from abroad. Many small businesses now demand payment in cash, which is hard in a country where banks are closed, many ATMs are empty and the rest only dispense 60 euros ($88) a day per person.
Public and private businesses said import restrictions were starting to hit – for example newspaper publishers said they only had enough paper left to print until Sunday.
The government is also running out of money to pay public service wages and pensions, and supply hospitals and other public bodies. To reduce financial hardship for citizens it decided to go easy on revenue-raising: in Athens the public transport is free until further notice, and tax collection has "almost dried up" according to one report.
One bank transaction processing company told the New York Times that banks could run out of cash by Friday.
Late on Monday the European Central Bank announced it would not provide extra liquidity to Greek banks. Instead, it passed a resolution making it harder for Greek banks to access emergency funds, making their collapse more likely, more quickly.
Greece's economy minister Giorgos Stathakis told the BBC that without extra help from the ECB, the banks could survive until Friday under current withdrawal and transfer restrictions.
He said the country was 48 hours away from deciding whether to leave the Eurozone, if there was no financial lifeline.
French president Francois Hollande met German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Paris on Monday evening, and said the "door was open" for new negotiations over Greece's debts.
"It is now up to the government of Alexis Tsipras to make serious, credible proposals so that this willingness to stay in the Eurozone can translate into a lasting programme," Mr Hollande said. "Time is running out and there is urgency for Greece and the Eurozone."
Ms Merkel said they were waiting for "very precise proposals" from the Greek prime minister, and "a programme that will allow Greece to return to prosperity."
Financial markets and analysts – many of whom wrongly predicted a 'Yes' vote in the referendum – were pessimistic on the chances of Greece making a deal and preventing an exit from the Eurozone.
Ratings agency Fitch warned that "time is short and the risk of policy missteps, or that the two sides simply cannot agree a deal, is high".
Greece has already missed a billion-euro interest payment to the IMF, and faces a new deadline of July 20 when it is supposed to repay 3.5 billion euros to the European Central Bank.
But the IMF chose to send a ray of hope, with managing director Christine Lagarde saying it would "stand ready to assist Greece if requested to do so".
