Bank of Greece

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.

The secondary loan market is expected to grow in 2021 and rise far above the 100-billion-euro level, while the new securitizations already announced are set to top €20 billion, the Association of Loan and Credit Claims Management Companies (EEDADP) stated on Thursday, on the occasion of its second birthday.

The high risk involved in lending to Greek enterprises, due to their small size, and the increased uncertainty in the economy are the main reasons lending rates remain high in Greece.

Greek private sector bank deposits rose in November for the tenth month in a row, central bank data showed on Tuesday.

Business and household deposits increased to 158.7 billion euros ($194.93 billion) from 155.7 billion in October, Bank of Greece data showed.

National Bank of Greece (NBG) announced on Tuesday that it had entered into a definite agreement with Bain Capital Credit for the sale of a Romanian-risk corporate nonperforming exposures portfolio ("Project Danube") with a total gross book value of around 174 million euros.

The Greek economy's earnings from travel receipts from abroad this year are down 14 billion euros on last year's - slightly better than the estimates of the government and the market.

The property market views 2020 as a lost year, as it has backtracked significantly on its course to recovery recorded over the previous couple of years. The pandemic has resulted in the dwindling of the market's main growth driver - i.e. buying interest from abroad - and this is clearly reflected in the figures of the Bank of Greece.

Central banker Yannis Stournaras voiced his optimism that the economy will recover in 2021, stressing that this crisis is not as big as the previous one.

As of January, Greek banks will implement reduced installment programs for well-serviced loans of those affected by the pandemic - businesses and households - that had been frozen since last April. 

The announcement came on Tuesday as the nine-month banking "moratoriums" gradually begin to expire at the end of December.

The Bank of Greece's baseline scenario has moved closer toward its adverse one, according to the intermediary monetary policy report its Governor Yannis Stournaras tabled in Parliament on Monday, providing for an economic contraction of 10% this year.