More NPLs added in April to the pile generated in the first quarter

A month with just 16 working days is a bad month for banks and their bid to reduce nonperforming loans. April was such a month as it saw an uneven battle from the banks' side to cut their NPLs following a difficult first quarter.

The reason is simple: Banks only had 16 days at their disposal to contact their clients and propose solutions for their debts. Debtors on the other hand had an entire 30 days to put off the settlement of their arrears, while the Easter period did nothing to encourage them to seek an arrangement with banks.

Data from the Greek lenders showed that the trend for the creation of new bad loans grew last month as 500 million euros of new NPLs were added to the pile of 2 billion euros from the first three months of the year.

May appears to be better so far, though there are no solid figures for now and the net result may well not lead to a...