Greece in shock as banks shut after snap referendum call

A pensioner shouts outside a branch of the National Bank of Greece along with other pensioners waiting to get their pensions, in Athens yesterday. [PHOTO:AFP]

Greeks struggled to adjust to shuttered banks, closed cash machines and a climate of rumours and conspiracy theories yesterdsay as a breakdown in talks between Athens and its creditors plunged the country deep into crisis.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who blindsided creditors by calling a referendum on the austerity cuts in the aid package proposed by the creditors, appeared on television on Sunday night to announce capital controls to prevent banks from collapsing.