ENFIA penalty plan for banks

The government is considering a 30% increase in the Single Property Tax (ENFIA) on real estate owned by banks as part of the measures it is working on for the credit sector.

The measure, if limited to residential properties and not applied to all real estate owned by banks, concerns approximately 9,000 residential properties that have come into their possession through auctions. The aim, according to statements by Minister of State Akis Skertsos, is to put pressure on banks to make these properties available on the market more quickly and reduce the acute housing shortage existing today.

This is essentially a kind of penalty to be imposed on banks, with the government appearing determined to legislate even unilaterally - that is, without the consent of banks, on a series of other issues that mainly concern transaction fees. On the contrary, on the issue of deposit...