Greece will hold fresh elections on the 17 th of June and a judge has been appointed to head an interim government. Council of State president Panagiotis Pikramenos will head the caretaker government until the election.

The election date was announced after party leaders met Greek President Karolos Papoulias on the 16 th of May and final talks to form a coalition failed. This raised new concerns over Greece’s Eurozone future as no party won a majority in the 6 May election.

There has been deadlock since the election over whether to continue with the austerity measures required by an international bailout agreement and recent opinion polls suggest that Syriza, a leftist bloc opposed to the tough bailout conditions, could win a re-election.

However, the uncertainty has pushed the Euro to a three-year low against Sterling.

EU officials fear Greece will elect an anti-bailout government, which could trigger a Greek exit from the euro.

Meanwhile the borrowing costs for Spain and Italy rose again, with Spanish bond yields hitting 6.5% and Italy’s 6.1%.

The uncertainty over the Euro has also sparked concern over a run on the banks in Greece with some Greek newspapers reporting that around €700m have been withdrawn from high street banks over the past few days.