The Bank of Greece

Corporate profits are fueling inflation to a large extent in Greece and will continue to do so in the coming years, according to the fall forecasts of the European Commission, which confirm previous relevant estimates of the OECD and calculations of other independent bodies, including the Bank of Greece.

The number of tourists visiting Greece has hit a record high since the start of the year, despite a heatwave and fierce wildfires over the summer, according to official statistics.

From January to the end of August, 22.65 million people visited the Mediterranean country renowned for its Aegean islands and ancient sites such as the Acropolis in the capital Athens.

The Governing Council of the European Central Bank is meeting on Wednesday and Thursday at the Bank of Greece, for the first time since 2008.

Its president, Christine Lagarde (pictured), has had the opportunity to get a taste of Athens and the Greeks in a different climate than what prevailed during the difficult years of the debt crisis.

Greece experienced an almost 1% GDP loss as a result of the consequences of climate change, such as heatwaves and natural disasters, from the beginning of May to August 4, according to Allianz Research. The fact that this number effectively "takes away" less than half of the growth that the Greek economy is predicted to experience this year makes it incredibly significant.

The prices of second-hand homes have been rising at a faster pace than those of newly built properties over the last six months.

It appears there is no end to food price hikes, as in just one month, June, increases of 2.1% were recorded compared to May 2023. Therefore, although the general consumer price index fell below 2% in June to 1.8%, so-called food inflation jumped to 12.2%.

The rate of house price growth is continuously exceeding record highs, according to data compiled by the Bank of Greece for the first quarter of this year. Indicatively, prices rose 14.5% year-on-year in Greece as a whole, with even higher increases in the two biggest urban centers, reaching 16.5% in Attica and 16.1% in Thessaloniki.

The growing use of plastic money by Greek consumers for transactions in brick-and-mortar stores or e-commerce is strengthening the appetite of certain people for intercepting card details and embezzling larger amounts.

Giorgos Houliarakis was perhaps the most popular member of the SYRIZA government among his European Union peers. He was one of the very few people who focused on the real numbers of the economy and realistic data.

The balance of travel services in November 2022 showed a surplus of 180 million euros, up from a surplus of €154.8 million in November 2021, the Bank of Greece said in a report on Monday.