BANK OF GREECE

According to Bank of Greece non - residents' arrivals soared 240 pct in July totaling 2,815,000, representing 50 pct of their July 2019 level, while travel receipts accounted for 61.4 pct of July 2019 levels.

Although many companies are now able to move ahead with investments to improve their business, many are still moving defensively, keeping deposits high as they remain concerned about the duration and resilience of the current economic upturn.

The trend of continuous increases in deposits reflects growing confidence in the Greek financial system, however, doubts remain about the course of the pandemic and the implementation of new restrictive measures.

As the BoG stated in its latest Monetary Policy Report, the primary deficit in terms of enhanced supervision was projected to fall to 3.9% of GDP this year from 7% of GDP in 2020.

In the second quarter of 2021, the credit standards for loans to non-financial corporations (NFCs) remained unchanged compared with the first quarter of 2021, in line with the expectations expressed in the previous quarterly survey round.

With the exception of some large companies that actually have access to new lending, the liquidity that reaches small - medium sized enterprises and households is minimal, governor of BoG pointed out.

In one-on-one meetings with each bank, the BoG staff presented the plan in detail, without, however, delving into all technical details that will have to be discussed and decided by the government.

As the head of the ECB pointed out, discussions have progressed significantly in both the European Commission and the ECB on the establishment of Asset Management Companies (AMCs) at national level, but also on the strengthening of AMCs in countries where they already exist. Asked about the Bank of Greece’s, Lagarde referred the issue to BoG Governor, Yiannis Stournaras.

Τhe BoG's plan, which will be submitted to the government and the country’s creditors by the end of September, envisages the transfer to the bad bank of problem loans at their book value

The crisis caused by the pandemic creates a window of opportunity for the creation of this tool that should not be lost, according to central bank sources. Stournaras has stressed that the bad bank will support the planning of banks and be available on a voluntary basis.