If you walk the streets of Athens during the holidays, you will find that despite the crisis, people shop without restraint. Commercial areas such as Ermou, Monastiraki and Kolonaki are flooded with streams of people who do not wait for the discounts but have embarked on holiday shopping.

The four major Greek banks - National Bank of Greece (NBG), Eurobank, Alpha Bank and Piraeus need a total of 27.5 billion euro to turn the corner of the crisis and continue to operate.