Economy of Greece

The Greek stock market experienced a mixed session on Thursday, with the majority of stocks closing with gains while most indexes posted losses at the end of the day. Traders opted for select sales to cash in their recent gains, so the benchmark came off Wednesday's 111-month high to settle for a minor decline.

The Greek banking system is healthy and has credibility but needs to be alert as challenges to financial stability remain high, Bank of Greece Governor Yannis Stournaras said on Tuesday.

The Public Debt Management Agency is launching a two-pronged attack on Greece's national debt.

Proceeding in line with fellow eurozone markets, the Greek bourse produced gains of almost 1% for the benchmark on Monday, following three sessions of decline last week. However, there was also the domestic dimension that played its part, with traders showing their satisfaction with the measures the government promised in Parliament for strengthening the capital market.

The benchmark of the Greek stock market appeared once again on Thursday reluctant to measure itself against the 1,300-point level it had last reached in June 2014, and gave ground on a day of reduced trading volume.

The Greek bourse benchmark halted its six-session rising streak on Wednesday, with the main index coming off a nine-year high to concede a little ground and losing stocks narrowly edging out the gainers on the day.

Τhe Greek economy is expected to grow by 2.2% this year and in 2024, the Parliament Budget Office said in a report released on Tuesday.

The report said that the Greek economy grew by 2.1% in the first quarter of 2023 and noted that a slowdown compared with a 7.8% growth rate in the first quarter of 2022 signaled the return of the economy to normal growth rates.

The lowest daily turnover of the last six weeks did not prevent the benchmark of the Greek stock market from rising to yet another nine-year high on Tuesday, even without the support of bank stocks. This time it was mid-caps that stole the show, boosting the main index and expanding the options of the few buyers that engaged in trading in Athens on what was a holiday in the US.

The main index of the Greek stock market closed on Monday at its highest point since June 2014, with banks driving it higher at the start of the year's second half, even though trading was the lowest of the last couple of weeks - probably due to the half-day on Wall Street, to say nothing of the summer effect.

A reduction in the cost of borrowing by 1.7 percentage points has been achieved thanks to the upgrades to Greece's credit rating by rating agencies during the last four years.