ECB aid to Greek banks steady as withdrawals calm down

The European Central Bank left its emergency lifeline for Greek banks unchanged Friday for a second day, as deposit withdrawals stabilised, a source familiar with the matter said.

Banking deposit withdrawals -- which accelerated sharply last week -- have "really calmed down" in recent days, the source added.

A separate banking source in Greece said the Bank of Greece had "got approval for the ELA it requested", but again omitted the word "increase" that had previously been used.

On Wednesday, the ECB had increased its Emergency Liquidity Assistance (ELA) fund for Greece's banks for the fifth time in an 8-day period.

Meanwhile on Friday, the Bank of Greece revealed data showing that the pace of bank deposit withdrawals fell in May from the previous month.

Withdrawals totalled 3.87 billion euros last month, compared with 4.67 billion in April, the cental bank said.

Recent Greek media reports suggested that up to six billion euros were withdrawn from the nation's banks last week.