European Central Bank

The governor of the Central Bank of Cyprus (CBC), Constantinos Herodotou, said on Wednesday there is concern in the markets that problems with some European banks could evolve into something bigger. He added however that the European Central Bank (ECB) was reassuring about the health of the European banking system.

The banking crisis that hit Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) last week has spread. We recall with a shudder two recent financial contagions: the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis, which led to a deep Asian recession, and the 2008 Great Recession, which led to a global downturn.

The European Central Bank today raised the key interest rate by 50 basis points to 3.5%, the highest level since 2008, and did not comment on what its future steps might be to control inflation.

The European Central Bank raised interest rates by 50 basis points on Thursday as promised, ignoring financial market chaos and calls by investors to dial back policy tightening at least until sentiment stabilizes.

"Core inflation in the Eurozone will remain high for the foreseeable future, so a European Central Bank (ECB) interest rate hike of up to 50 basis points later this month looks increasingly certain", ECB President Christine Lagarde told the Spanish media group Vocento.

Alpha Bank raised 400 million euros on Wednesday through the issue of an Additional Tier 1 bond with a coupon of 11.875%, a rate lower than initial market estimates.

The European Central Bank is set to raise interest rates again on Thursday and pencil in more hikes for the next few months, with the only open question being how big these will be.

European Central Bank (ECB) chief Christine Lagarde has said that interest rates need to continue rising at a "steady pace" in order to avoid inflation becoming entrenched.

While energy prices have recently come down, Lagarde said underlying inflation continues to rise.

Greek banks will undergo capital stress tests in order to get the green light from the European Central Bank's supervisory mechanism to distribute dividends to shareholders, the head of the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) board, Andrea Enria, told Kathimerini.

Bank of Greece Governor Yannis Stournaras met on Thursday with Andrea Enria, chair of the Supervisory Board of the European Central Bank's Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM).

Enria met with Stournaras and other members of the Bank of Greece's administration, as well as with representatives of the managements of Greek banks and the Hellenic Bank Association.