Bank of Greece

Prominent professor and Hellenist Roderick Beaton took the oath to become a Greek citizen at a ceremony held at the Bank of Greece on Tuesday.

Travel receipts grew 72% in January, totaling 224.2 million euros, from €130.5 million in the corresponding month last year, the Bank of Greece said.

Based on provisional data, the balance of travel services in January showed a surplus of €26.3 million, down from a surplus of €44 million in January 2022.

Forecasts by the government, the Bank of Greece and economic analysts on this year's growth rate are being revised upward to 2-2.5%, compared to the 1.8% that had been foreseen in the 2023 budget.

Apartment prices in Greece grew by 12.2% in the fourth quarter of 2022 and at an average annual rate of 11.1% in 2022, the Bank of Greece said in a report on Wednesday.

Broken down by age of property, the annual rate of change in prices of new apartments was 12.1% and 12.2% for old apartments.

Foreign investment in the Greek real estate market, especially housing, recorded an all-time high in 2022. According to data from the Bank of Greece, 1.975 billion euros flowed into the local realty market from abroad last year. That was 68% higher than in 2021, when the corresponding amount had not exceeded €1.17 billion.

The head of the Bank of Greece, Yannis Stournaras, is adamant that 2023 will be the year when Greece finally regains investment grade.

The Greek economy outperformed the European Union average for a second year in succession in 2022, securing a growth rate of 5.9%, Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) data showed on Tuesday. According to Eurostat's provisional data, the growth rate in the eurozone was 3.5% and in the European Union 3.6%.

Demand for loans by Greek small, medium-sized and large enterprises is expected to increase further, while demand by households is expected to remain unchanged in the first quarter of 2023, the Bank of Greece said on Tuesday.

Private sector deposits increased by 5.004 billion euros in December after a €591 million decrease in the previous month, with the annual growth rate rising to 4.8% from 4.5%, respectively, the Bank of Greece said on Friday. 

Greece needs to follow prudent fiscal policy and continue reforms in order to ensure the confidence of the markets, Pierre Gramegna, the new executive director of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), pointed out on Thursday following his meeting in Athens with Finance Minister Christos Staikouras.