Greeks Reject Bailout Offer in Key Referendum

Results showed 61% voted “no,” compared with 38% for “yes,” with 97% of the vote counted.

– ‘No’ vote romps to victory with 61 pct of vote
– Result a stunning setback for EU governments
– Euro zone summit called for Tuesday
– PM Tsipras says Greece returning to negotiating table
– Euro currency falls in early Asia trade

Voters in Greece resoundingly rejected creditors’ demands for more austerity in return for rescue loans, backing Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who insisted the vote would give him a stronger hand to reach a better deal.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras hailed a ‘No’ vote in Sunday’s referendum on a bailout offer. He said his government was ready to return immediately to negotiations with creditors in a bid to get shuttered banks open again.

With 97% of the votes counted, the “no” side had 61%.

“Today we celebrate the victory of democracy,” Tsipras, who gambled the future of his 5-month-old left-wing government on the vote, said in an address to the nation.

Dismissing talk that the referendum was effectively a vote on whether Greece stays in the euro, Tsipras said the mandate that Greeks had given him was to reach a viable solution rather than clash with Europe.

“With the difficult circumstances prevailing today you made a very brave choice,” Tsipras said in a televised address to Greeks. “I’m fully aware the mandate you gave me is not one of a rupture with Europe but a mandate to strengthen our negotiating position to seek a viable solution.”

Tsipras said he would ask the country’s president to summon a meeting of political party leaders to brief them on the situation.

Euro Exit on the Cards

With Greece facing its worst financial crisis in recent memory, Tsipras said Athens was returning to the negotiating table with the express goal of reopening banks which have been shut for over a week with the imposition of capital controls.

The ECB, which holds a conference call on Monday morning, is likely to maintain emergency funding for Greek banks at their current restricted level and avoid the drastic measure of yanking support, people familiar with the matter said.

Even then, the banks are expected to struggle as Greeks besiege cash machines to withdraw a maximum of 60 euros ($66) daily, though government officials have vociferously denied any plans to issue a parallel currency. Fears have grown of a shortage of petrol and medicine if the cash squeeze continues.