70 per cent of Greek mortgages aren't being paid

By: Jim Edwards

The economy in Greece is so bad that Greeks have stopped paying their personal and consumer debts and are raising cash by selling family heirlooms, according to an astonishing article in the Financial Times.

Here is the scariest quote:

"There's a real issue of moral hazard? .?.?. ? Around 70 per cent of restructured mortgage loans aren't being serviced because people think foreclosures will only be applied to big villa owners," one banker said.

Greece has become an upside-down world where no one feels ashamed about not paying their debts, the FT reports, because no one can pay their debts:

The family still owes a year's worth of school fees at the private international school their daughter attended, which George admits is not a priority. He is no longer embarrassed by his inability to pay, he says, because so many other parents are in the same situation.

At the same time, consumers are pulling all their cash out of the Greek banks, for fear they will fail. Greece needs to make a 1.5 billion payment to the IMF by the end of June.