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Greece Sets New Election For June 17; Fear Of Bank Runs Reported

With "the shockwaves from Greece's failure to form a coalition government" continuing to roil financial markets around the world, there's word from the BBC that Greece has now scheduled a new set of elections for June 17.

And there's also this:

"Greece's president [has spoken] of 'fear that could develop into panic' at the country's banks in the weeks before fresh elections that could precipitate Athens exit from the euro zone," Reuters reports.

According to the wire service, "afraid of the prospect of rapid devaluation if the country leaves the single currency," many Greeks are pulling euros out of banks, minutes of President Karolos Papoulias's meetings with political leaders indicate. The nation's central bank chief says Greeks pulled at least $894 million out of banks on Monday.

As Reuters has also reported, a "Grexit" from the euro (Greece pulling out of the currency bloc) is being increasingly discussed.

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Mark Memmott is NPR's supervising senior editor for Standards & Practices. In that role, he's a resource for NPR's journalists – helping them raise the right questions as they do their work and uphold the organization's standards.
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