It started with the ATMs. At 11pm on Saturday, several simply stopped dispensing cash. Perplexed at first, Mahi Papaconstantinou moved from one to the next, her blood pressure rising a little as she discovered that each one was blocked.

Panicked, the retired civil servant then got in her car and headed across Athens towards home. This time she was lucky. "I thought, thank God, €50," she said, shaking her head in disbelief.

Greek referendum: optimism fades as eurozone says gulf has widened

The Greek economy is dying, dying before the eyes of its people. A credit squeeze that began with the imposition of capital controls has, eight days on, assumed the terrifying spectre of cash reserves drying up. In less than a week, banknotes of €5, €10 and €20 have become almost extinct; so, too, have €1 coins. "There are a lot of us out there now walking the streets in tears," said Papaconstantinou. "We just can't believe that at this stage of our lives this is what we have come to."

The restrictions, enforced to prevent a collapse of the banking system, were meant to end along with the closure of Greek banks on Tuesday. But at 7pm on Monday, barely 24 hours after the nation rebuffed the idea of further austerity in a referendum that has sent shockwaves through Europe, the Greek Bank Association announced that neither would happen. The cap on ATM withdrawals – a €60 limit reduced to €50 because of smaller denominations running out – would also remain.