In his first pre-election interview on wednesday, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said he fought as hard as he could for a good deal with Greece΄s lenders and that he had to call elections due to the conditions of his mandate having completely changed.

Greek Economy Minister George Stathakis said on Wednesday steps are taken to ease bank restrictions and normalize imports and exports, adding that capital controls will be lifted “very soon”.

Germany, which has taken a tough line on Greece, has profited from the country’s crisis to the tune of 100 billion euros, according to a new studyower interest payments on funds the government borrowed amid investor “flights to safety”, the study said.