The 40-minute meeting that was held on Thursday between Bank of Greece governor Yannis Stournaras and Deputy Prime Minister Yannis Dragasakis focused mainly on the European Central Bank’s decision to stop accepting Greek state bonds as collateral from February 11 onwards and the possible consequences of this development for Greece.

The BoG governor assured the Deputy PM that Greek banks’ liquidity and deposits are absolutely safe, as Greek banks have the option to resort to the Emergency Liquidity Assistance mechanism.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Stournaras said that he briefed the Deputy PM over the latest developments in the banking system. He also noted that the ECB’s decision could be lifted in the future, in the same way it was lifted in the past, when the country reached an agreement with its creditors.

During the meeting, the BoG governor also explained to Dragasakis what exactly happened on Wednesday evening in Frankfurt, before the announcement of the ECB’s decision. The European Central Bank has most likely set the deadline at February 11 in order to allow time for the Greek government to reach an agreement with its creditors.

He also explained why he himself had could not participate in the specific vote nor in any other crucial ECB vote until March 2015.

According to ECB’s official site, the accession of Lithuania to the euro area on 1 January 2015 triggered a system under which National Central Bank Governors take turns holding voting rights on the Governing Council.