Waiting for the referendum in Greece

On Wednesday morning, there were signs that a rescuing compromise for Greece was a possible scenario.

The government in Athens would have accepted, with some amendments, the agreement proposal drafted by the international creditors and even displayed some willingness to drop the referendum.

Everything fell apart, however, in the afternoon, when the Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras announced that Sunday's referendum would be held as planned.

Moreover, he called on his co-nationals to say 'no' to the program proposed by the creditors.

As a result of that, communication between Athens and Brussels was cut and chances of it being resumed on Monday depends on the outcome of Sunday's referendum.

European leaders have warned that a predominantly 'no' would translate into exiting the Eurozone, but this is an interpretation that Tsipras vehemently rejects.

The head of the conservative opposition, the former Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, has called on the Greek citizens to say 'yes for Europe'.

Citizens' sense of responsibility should prevail over that of the Government, said Samaras, who believes that Greece is now in the most critical situation of the past decades.

The Greek crisis is carefully observed in Bucharest too. The Governor of the National Bank of Romania, Mugur Isarescu, has again called for calm and wisdom, and has urged those who have deposits in banks with Greek capital in Romania to refrain from acting on emotional impulse and withdraw their deposits.

He has explained that all these banks are safe, well capitalized and subject to the Central Bank's regulations, not to Greece's decision.

And, in case panic strikes, the Central Bank is ready to intervene.

"The National Bank has adopted measures that will ensure liquidities even in those situations in which, because of some emotional reasons generated by rumors or overreaction, the banks would find it hard to get liquidities in the market, despite their situation being a good one.

"Banks can secure liquidity, then can get liquid assets from the National Bank, the interest rate is low and the only ones who would lose in such a situation are the depositors. They would waste time, would lose interests, as small as it may be, and also they would lose money in the form of withdrawal commissions", Mugur Isarescu said.

On the other hand, even if the situations of the two countries cannot be compared - as Greece is on the brink of financial collapse and Romania stands on a strong financial and banking ground - the Greek crisis is food for some serious reflection on the relationship with partners such as the IMF and the EU.

"The insecure financial background on the one hand, dominated by the situation in Greece and in the Eurozone in general, and the domestic context on the other, are evidence that the agreements with our international partners, the IMF and the EU, must be maintained, in various forms. I believe that negotiations will continue, and it's good that they will, because this is a matter of credibility", the Governor of the National Bank of Romania added.

Just like the IMF and the European Commission, Mugur Isarescu does not believe that there is enough economic evidence to justify the fiscal relaxation initiated by the government, which is a bone of contention between the Romanian executive and the international financial institutions.