The European Central Bank has tightened the screws on Greece’s banking system, and by extension its government.<br /><br /> The ECB will no longer accept Greek government bonds to guarantee loans of money to Greek banks. Those loans are needed to keep them solvent. <br /><br /> The bonds are rated as ‘junk’ meaning there is a much greater chance that they will become worthless if the Athens government does not pay back the money it has borrowed. <br /><br /> The financial markets see this as the ECB piling pressure on the new Greek government and on its eurozone lenders to quickly reach an agreement on the debt and bailout. <br /><br /> Analyst Robert Halver with Baader Bank in Germany explained the central bank’s move: “The ECB doesn’t want to become collateral damage, stuck between the Greeks and their desires on one side and EU politics on the other, ending up as creditors without a solution. This is a warning shot across the bows, the ECB sending the clear message: please, find a solution. We are not going to do it for y
