Much of the government debt was owed to banks outside of Greece, with the largest amounts in France and Germany. But the high-stakes standoff with lenders this week saw Greece default on debts, close banks to avoid their collapse, and lose access to billions of euros as an existing bailout deal expired. Germany's finance minister, Wolfgang Schaeuble told his country's Bild daily that any negotiations after the Greek vote "will take a while." The European Commission, the European Union's executive arm - one of the "troika" of creditors along with the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank - wants Athens to raise taxes and slash welfare spending to meet its debt obligations. In the time since Draghi’s statement three important things happened in Greece. A new opinion poll shows a dead heat in Greece's referendum campaign with just two days to go before Sunday's... (Associated Press) 
 
 Greece's Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras waves to the crowd after his a speech at a rally organized by supporters of the No vote in Athens, Friday, July 3, 2015. It's a vote to change course and stay in the euro, and Tsipras is our best hope," she said. Greeks will vote Sunday on whether to accept a proposal that creditors had made of specific reforms in exchange... (Associated Press) 
 
 A member of the Communist-affiliated PAME labor union shouts slogans at the police during an anti-austerity protest calling to "Vote NO" outside of the in central Athens, on Friday, July 3, 2015. On Tuesday, the previous eurozone bailout expired, depriving Greece of access to billions of euros in funds, and Athens missed a €1.5bn repayment to the IMF. A Greek court has rejected a challenge to the legality of the referendum, in which people will vote on the terms of further international loans. As Greek banks and markets remain closed Friday for a fifth day,... (Associated Press) 
 
 People wait to be allowed into the national bank of Greece to withdraw a maximum of 120 euros ($134) for the week, in central Athens, Friday, July 3, 2015. There are now limits on how much depositors can get from ATMs and limits on wire transfers. "A 'yes' vote would bring a caretaker government and that would probably be better ... We have to start over." But, if the public sides with Tsipras government, then there will be a very sharp recession over the next few months. "There are no new proposals from our side and, whatever happens, the future for Greece will be extremely tough," Dijsselbloem said. It is true that financial markets were much more jittery at that time, but the money that was raised to pay off the creditors in that bailout could have been diverted to support Greece and other weak countries. Once the bad rescue of 2010 was undertaken, it was inevitable that some form of debt relief was going to be necessary.
– Greece's top court has declared that Sunday's referendum on a bailout is constitutional, meaning the vote with huge implications for all of Europe will proceed. The latest polls show a dead heat, reports AP, as leaders on both sides try to rally support—especially Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, whose political life may be at stake. “I ask you to say no to ultimatums, blackmail, and fear-mongering,” he said in a TV address. “No to divisions, no to those who want to spread panic.” He sought to downplay the notion that a "no" vote could lead to Greece leaving the euro zone. Instead, he said, the referendum is about giving him more leverage to get a better deal from creditors. It's the only way Greece can "live with dignity in Europe," he said, per the BBC. The Washington Post has a primer on the financial reasons behind the vote, but a story in the New York Times casts it in more personal terms. It's largely become a referendum on Tsipras himself, and the story suggests that's why European leaders itching to get rid of him limited emergency funds to Greek banks this week. The move set off a panic among people scrambling for cash, and his popularity tumbled. “I don’t see how anybody can believe that the timing of this was coincidence,” says a US economist. “When you restrict the flow of cash enough to close the banks during the week of a referendum, this is a very deliberate move to scare people.” Tsipras initially said he would step down if the "yes" vote prevails, but he has since backed down from that position.