# Drachma



## Sikinos Lady (Jan 13, 2012)

Hi

If Greece reverts back to the drachma how will this affect my NBG account. I currently send a monthly amount from the UK?


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## wka (Sep 18, 2009)

Hopefully someone else who knows more will weigh in... as far as I understand it, all Greek accounts (so that would include your NBG acct) would automatically change suddenly to the national currency according to a 1:1 exchange rate. So if you have €10,000, then you would have ΔΡΧ10,000. When the markets open the next day the value of the drachma would then fall perhaps 70% against the €. So instead of paying €1.30 for a liter of milk (or whatever crazy price the bakaliko in Sikinos charges you - that's what I paid in Folegandros, I'm so happy to pay €0.85 on the mainland!), you would theoretically pay ΔΡΧ1.30, but within a day or two, it would probably take more like ΔΡΧ2.20 to get it. 

That would obviously mean that you would not want to have money automatically deposited into a Greek bank account if Greece were to leave the euro. You'd be better off using your home (UK) account with a debit card in the Sikinos ATM (such a nice ATM, by the way!), with which you will have significantly more buying power than you have now in the Euro, or would have had with a drachma-based account.

This is good both for you and for your local community, because you will be able to put more money back into the local economy. If I were you and I were really concerned about a currency change, I'd make sure that those monthly deposits were just barely enough to cover my needs, and not have loads of money sitting there. And it would be a very good idea to have a debit card linked to your UK account that functions in Sikinos.

Please someone else who knows better correct me if I've got this wrong. It's difficult to get realistic, practical info on this stuff, but speaking as someone who also works in a non-Euro currency (USD in my case), I feel more comfortable with my USD staying in USD for now, except the amounts I actually need on a daily basis.

That said, of course, they all swear up and down that no currency change will take place!


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## Jolly Roger (Dec 4, 2011)

I agree with what wka says. If this should happen, anyone with an income from outside Greece, should be in a much better position than ordinary Greeks. We would see all imported goods rise dramatically in price, but a much better exchange rate would counter this. I have a sterling account in a Greek bank and just transfer enough into the Euro account as is necessary. I am assuming that the sterling would be safe. The banks would immediately close down, so it would worth having some mattress money, to get by in the short term.


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## pk5555 (Oct 22, 2012)

Another newbie here! we are looking to rent on Crete for at least 6 mths from March/April 2013. On this subject, I have scoured the banking system to find a bank that doesn't charge or requires lots of cash in the account. It appears the only way is to use debit cards at the atms-at least it's 'safe' money. Can you experienced folk give me an idea on which banks that issue cards that are OK in Greece?


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## barkingmad (Dec 4, 2009)

Any UK bank card marked with Link or Visa will work fine in ATMs here but watch for the charges. I started a Nationwide account because they had no charges from ATMs in Europe, then they reneged on it so I now use a firm called No Banx to change sterling to euros and transfer them to my Greek account. Very easy, best rates and minimal charge


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## pk5555 (Oct 22, 2012)

Thanks barkingmad for your input....appreciated!


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