Bank of Greece

The plenary session of Bar Associations decided at its meeting to request that the Minister of Finance and the Governor of the Bank of Greece proceed to the immediate legislative enactment of an ethical regulation for the operation of receivables management companies and the provision of effective sanctions in case of its violation.

The National Bank of Greece Group on Friday announced the completion of a transaction for the disposal of a nonperforming, predominantly secured, corporate loan portfolio to the investment firm Bain Capital Credit for a total principal amount of 1.6 billion euros.

Advance payments from a European Union recovery fund will finance investments worth 3.3% of the country's gross domestic product (around 5.5 billion euros) this year, Bank of Greece Governor Yannis Stournaras said on Wednesday while also calling on Greek banks to make additional provisions to cover an expected new wave of nonperforming loans.

The so-called "accordion lockdown" may be testing the patience and stamina of entrepreneurs, who are forced to revise their plans and operations every now and then, but at least it secures some turnover, so it is better than a complete months-long lockdown, say economists who have observed its international application in the last few months.

Burdened with suspended loans of about 6 billion euros, the sectors of tourism accommodation and food service is proving the biggest sufferer of the pandemic, even more so as the vaccination program experiences delays and the exit from the crisis is not yet in sight.

Protesters clashed with riot police in Athens and Thessaloniki on Thursday during two marches to protest against a draft bill of the Education Ministry that will bring changes to tertiary education.

The Greek government channeled 12.2 billion euros into the real economy in 2020 as part of its support measures and is currently working on designing new measures and updating others to help enterprises cope with the consequences of the pandemic crisis.

Out of the 21 billion euros in loans under a moratorium due to the pandemic, more than 80% had previously been performing, according to the Bank of Greece's Credit Stability Report published on Thursday.

Greece raised 2 billion euros ($2.43 billion) by reopening a 30-year bond through a private placement with two Greek banks, according to the official government gazette, the first borrowing action for 2021.

National Bank of Greece and Piraeus Bank participated in the transaction. The Greek debt agency issued a 30-year bond last year through a private placement.

The burden of new nonperforming loans on Greek banks after the pandemic crisis is expected to come to 8-10 billion euros, relatively greater compared to that faced by other European credit institutions, Bank of Greece Governor Yannis Stournaras said on Friday.