State NPE scheme to double in size

Bad loans worth 30 billion euros are being prepared for transfer to the asset protection scheme (APS) that the Finance Ministry is creating.

This is twice the original amount provided for, a development that highlights the government's resolve to tackle the problem of banks' nonperforming exposures.

Deputy Finance Minister Giorgos Zavvos, who is in charge of the project, has been in constant consultations with local banks, the European Central Bank's Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) and the European Commission's Directorate-General for Competition (DGComp) in a bid to see the new scheme take in the highest amount in bad loans possible.

Kathimerini understands that the loans, which will be destined for securitization, will reach 30 billion euros, against the 15 billion initially proposed and the 20 billion considered later.

The NPEs of the country's...