Chrysostomos Tsoufis

On Thursday the ECB will announce another interest rate hike, the 7th since last July, and the cost of money will become more expensive for Greek consumers.

And all this at a time when the latest available data showed that Greek banks were offering some of the most expensive loans.

According to the ECB database, in February the average interest rate in our country for a mortgage loan was 3.78% (plus some margin of course) which is the 6th highest in Europe, about half a unit above the average Eurozone which is at 3.21%.

More specifically, the ranking in the … Penthouse of the ranking was as follows:

1.Latvia 4.97%

2. Lithuania 4.87%

3. Estonia 4.73%

4. Slovenia 4%

5. Germany 3.79%

6. Greece 3.78%

On the contrary, the cheapest mortgages enjoyed:

Malta 2.34%
Greece 2.35%
Ireland 2.99%
Croatia 3.17%
Finland 3.22%
The situation in business loans is desperate.

The figures show that Greek businesses looking to get a loan of up to €250,000 will pay the highest interest rate in Europe at 6.48% (+margin), more than 2 points above the EU average of 2.39%.

The relative ranking is as follows:

Greece 6.48%
Latvia 6.35%
Ireland 5.94%
Finland 5.54%
Portugal 5.08%

The most humane lending environment is offered by Malta, which is also the only country with a business loan interest rate of this category below 3%.

With her :

Malta 2.9%
France 3.01%
Luxembourg 3.73%
Lithuania 3.74%

The disheartening picture for the Greeks is completed by the interest rates on deposits that are (not) given. In February the Greek depositor who wanted to lock their money in a bank for up to 1 year was getting the 5th lowest return in Europe with an average of 1.03% compared to the EU average of 1.85%. The classification of the offenders is as follows:

Slovenia 0.36%
Portugal 0.56%
Cyprus 0.59%
Spain 0.71%
Greece 1.03%

It should be noted here that things were even worse at the end of 2022 when the average for Greece was only 0.33%, the third lowest in the Eurozone, but it seems that the government’s exhortations, specifically Christos Staikouras, had some limited results.

On the contrary, the most….premiumed depositors in the Eurozone are the Italians who enjoy interest rates of almost 3%.

In particular, the ranking is as follows:

Italy 2.95%
France 2.58%
Slovakia 2.3%
Belgium 2.26%
Finland 2.21%