Greece government wants public agencies to turn in reserves

The Greek government on Monday issued a decree ordering all public agencies to turn in their financial reserves to the treasury in order to meet payments as the state coffers are emptying.

"With this act, the government hopes to cover urgent needs of the state amounting to three billion euros for the next 15 days," said the decree, which still needs adoption by the parliament.

The decree listed the "urgent needs" as: "1.1 billion euros ($1.2 billion) in wages, 850 million euros in social insurance funds, 200 million euros in interest on debt and on May 12, 746 million in repayment to the IMF".

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras's cash-strapped government had launched an appeal since March for public agencies to turn over their reserves on a voluntary basis.

Some like the employment agency OAED and the region of Athens have transferred tens of millions of euros.

But this call now looks set to become compulsory, and will also affect local authorities.

The money will be transferred to the Bank of Greece where it would be held on a special account and earn an interest of 2.5 percent. If necessary, it can be invested in certain securities.

Greece is struggling to unlock some 7.2 billion euros in bailout funds as Athens and its creditors have so far been unable to find an agreement on the reforms that need to be undertaken in exchange for the rescue package.