Greece crisis sees Greeks buying Apple goods and jewellery to avoid financial ruin

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Jewellery, computer, electrical goods stores reported 'record sales' before bailout referendum on Sunday
Shop assistant at Apple store described extravagant shopping spree as 'like Christmas'
Jewellery shop owner saw surge in sales after six months of 'almost no customers'
Greeks overwhelmingly voted against austerity measures proposed by EU
They continue to queue at ATMs to withdraw their daily cash allowance which has been lowered to €50

Published: 10:53 EST, 8 July 2015 | Updated: 12:06 EST, 8 July 2015

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Wealthy Greeks have embarked on a luxury spending spree amid fears the government will raid their bank accounts to help pay the national debt.

Jewellery, computer and electrical goods store reported record summer sales in the lead up to and following the EU bail-out referendum on Sunday which has put Athens at odds with Berlin and Brussels.

Greeks fear will the EU will force their government to impose a 'haircut' on their bank accounts, taking a percentage of depositor's savings as a one-off tax, in a move similar to conditions imposed on Cyprus following their own financial crisis in 2013.

One shop assistant described the recent shopping spree as like 'Christmas'.

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In the money: Jewellery shop owner Maria-Ellie Xanthopoulous (pictured) has seen a massive surge in customers after six months of 'almost none' - as wealthy Greeks embarked on a spending spree amid fears the banks will soon raid their accounts

'Thursday, Friday and Saturday were like Christmas,' said shop assistant Andrew, 30, at the Public electronic shop in Syntagma Square, an authorised Apple retailer.

'People are afraid that the bank will take their money and they came out to spend it ahead of the EU finance meeting in Brussels.

'People are very scared. The majority thought they had three days to spend their money before the bank was forced to hand it over to the government.

'We sold almost twice as much as usual... People were buying laptops, PCs, tablets, iPhones, that was all.'

Jewellery shop owner Maria-Ellie Xanthopoulous said her clients would rather spend their money than have it taken from their bank accounts by the government.

Sold out: 'We sold almost twice as much as usual... People were buying laptops, PCs, tablets, iPhones,' said one shop assistant at an authorised Apple retailer in Athens (file photo)

Help: Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras (pictured) made another request for aid from Europe's bailout fund at a session at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, today

'For the past six months we had almost no customers, but on Saturday, Monday and Tuesday we had a number of clients come in and spend money,' said Mrs Xanthopoulous, 56, whose family have been selling jewellery from the shop since 1890.

'We did not sell as much as electronic shops but for us it was good business.

'One or two of my clients said they would rather spend their money on beautiful things that let the banks take it away from them.

For the past six months we had almost no customers, but on Saturday, Monday and Tuesday we had a number of clients come in and spend money

Maria-Ellie Xanthopoulous, jewellery shop owner

'Clients have been spending between €5,000 and €8,000 a time.'

Meanwhile Greeks continue to queue for hours at bank ATMs to withdraw their daily cash allowance, which has been forced down to €50 a day.

One bank account holder told MailOnline: 'We are supposed to be able to withdraw €60 a day but there are no €20 notes left in the machines so you can only take out €50... It is the same everywhere – there are only €50 notes in the ATMs.'

Greek junior finance minister Dimitris Mardas refused to rule out a 'bank account haircut' would be imposed on the nation during a radio interview yesterday Wednesday.

In 2013 Cyprus forced residents and businesses to give up to 47.5 per cent of their bank deposits above €100,000 as part of an EU bail-out agreement.

Safety-box deposit firms have reported a huge increase in demand with wealthy Greeks storing their cash and other valuables anywhere other than their bank.

'Door for talks remains open': Merkel on Greece proposals

Cash-strapped: Greeks continue to queue for hours at bank ATMs (pictured in Athens) to withdraw their daily cash allowance which has been forced down to €50 a day

Desperate: One bank account holder said the limit was taken down from €60 because there are no €20 notes left in the machines

Dilemma: While most Greeks desperately try to withdraw money (pictured), there has been a rise in demand for safety deposit boxes among the wealthy - who want to store valuables anywhere other than their bank