Athens, July 1 (IANS): Thousands of pensioners in Greece lined up early Wednesday morning outside 1,000 bank branches opened to disperse pension payments to those without bank cards, Efe news agency reported.

Capital controls imposed by the Greek government have left retirees restricted to withdrawing a maximum of 120 euros ($133.5) each week, while all Greek banks have been closed since Monday, and will stay closed until July 6, a day after the referendum on whether Greece should stay in eurozone.

Banks have committed to issue credit or debit cards for the pensioners as soon as possible.

The cards will allow retirees to withdraw 60 euros ($66.7) per day from ATMs, and also make payments in shops and gas stations, or any place that accepts the card.

In alphabetical order, 1,000 bank branches will open from Wednesday through Friday to serve pensioners, while banks of Piraeus, a Greek multinational financial services company, will remain open throughout, the Greek finance ministry announced on Tuesday night.

Greece has been in an economic tailspin since it failed to reach an agreement on fiscal reforms with European credit institutions, while it also defaulted on its 1.6 billion-euro (about $1.7-billion) payment to the International Monetary Fund on Tuesday.