Bank of Greece

Bank of Greece Governor Yannis Stournaras has told Kathimerini he expects the European Central Bank to start reducing interest rates this summer, as inflation is easing much faster than expected.

The monthly income is sufficient for just 19 days for around 61% of households in Greece, as price hikes in basic goods and services eat away at incomes for the third year in a row, while inflation has been at much larger levels than any salary increase in recent times.

The current market estimate for travel receipts in 2023 is 20.5 billion euros following the publication of Bank of Greece data for the first 11 months of last year. 

That is an increase in foreign tourism revenues of more than 10% compared to the last record year, 2019. It is recalled that in 2019 the receipts from abroad for Greek tourism had amounted to €18.2 billion.

Greece saw a surge in tourist arrivals, reaching 32 million visitors from January to November 2023, according to data from the Bank of Greece released on Monday. 

The inbound travel movement surged by 17.3%, totaling 31.97 million travelers compared to 27.25 million in 2022. This surge resulted in a 15.4% rise in travel receipts, reaching €20.1 billion. 

Greece's return to investment grade in 2023 signals a return to normalcy and marks the start of a new effort to raise the prosperity level of the Greek people, Bank of Greece Governor Yannis Stournaras said on Monday at a bank event.

The European Central Bank's Supervisory Board (SSM) Chair Claudia Buch acknowledged the progress made by the Greek banking sector during her two-day visit along with Single Resolution Board Chair Dominique Laboureix to Athens.

The chairs of the Single Resolution Board (SRB) Dominique Laboureix and the Supervisory Board of the European Central Bank (SSM) Claudia Buch are in Athens on a two-day visit on Thursday and Friday.

The heads of the two European institutions met on Thursday with Bank of Greece Governor Yannis Stournaras and top executives of the BoG.

The Greek banking sector will see this and next year a credit expansion of 4% per annum, per Eurobank Equities, ensuring resilience in interest income and profitability for Greek banks.

This is ahead of the imminent reduction of interest rates by the ECB, expected to start from the second quarter of this year.

Banks and real estate market operators are predicting a mild decrease in home sales prices for 2024 since, as they estimate, the rally of the last two years is coming to an end.

With the real estate market due for a correction after significant price hikes, according to real estate experts and the Bank of Greece, there is a market segment, winter holiday homes, which never rebounded from the financial crisis.