Credit

The European Central Bank may be one of the strongest allies of Greece in this crisis, but the anticipated conclusion of the PEPP program is not expected to put Greek bonds at risk, as until then the sustainability of the country's public finances will have improved further, Fitch Ratings analysts told Kathimerini.

The number of consumers seeking arrangements for various debts has soared during the pandemic, according to a survey by Wemetrix. Debtors are seeking to settle arrears for the payment of services such as utility bills, as well as to secure favorable payment plans for the acquisition mostly of homeware and domestic appliances.

The Turkish presidency is setting up an office to deal with the growing sector of participation finance, according to an official notice published on Feb. 8.

The department within the Presidential Finance Office will focus on raising awareness of participation finance and developing strategies in the field, said a presidential decree published in the Official Gazette.

Athens-listed Mytilineos Group is ready to tap the international capital markets in the next few months, well-informed banking sources say.

Ljubljana – Creditreform Rating, an European credit rating agency, has affirmed Slovenia’s AA- credit rating with a stable outlook. It says that Slovenia has a strong economic environment, a flexible labour market while its private sector’s indebtedness is low, which should contribute to the country’s post-Covid recovery.

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.

Fitch Ratings officials appeared optimistic about Greece's economic outlook ahead of this Friday's credit rating report on the country during an online debate last week on the impact the pandemic has had on the assessments and the sustainability of eurozone member-states' finances.

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 most turbulent year of the past few decades has ended for Greece with overdue private arrears of above 240 billion euros (not including unknown debts between individuals) and state debt exceeding the limit of 200% of gross domestic product for the first time ever, to reach €338 billion.

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.