By Chrysostomos Tsoufis

Inflation data for January released by Eurostat may have shown a marginal deceleration in inflation to 2.9% (from 2.8% in December) in the Eurozone, but they are very encouraging given that expectations were for an increase in – albeit short-term -.

This was also admitted by the Governor of the Bank of Greece, Giannis Stournaras. Speaking at the University of Liverpool, the central banker said that while the ECB could not yet trumpet victory against inflation, he did not deny that it is falling faster than Frankfurt estimates and that as things stand the 2% target may be caught already from this Autumn.

Based on all this, Yiannis Stournaras, who traditionally belongs to the optimists of the ECB’s Board of Directors, was in favor of the start of interest rate cuts in June. Whether Stournaras is listened to will depend not only on the course of the elements but also on the internal balances. The hardliners want the ECB to move even more slowly and some even like Austria’s central banker are openly in favor of keeping interest rates at their current level until 2024!

In addition to good news from abroad and Frankfurt, households are also waiting for a “nod” at home from the banks that they will extend frozen mortgage rates. The current plan envisages keeping mortgage rates at their March 31 level, thus protecting around 450,000 mortgages from successive rate hikes decided until winter 2023 by the ECB.

The Ministry of Finance is pushing, it was no coincidence that Kostis Hatzidakis’ statements on SKAI TV last week that the government does not understand that the banks will not extend the program. And reports say that the banks are leaning towards the possibility and that the announcement of the extension is only a matter of time.

In addition to pushing for the maintenance of interest rates as they are, the Ministry of Finance tries to remind citizens at every opportunity of the 7 tools they have at their disposal to settle their debts:

EXTRAJUDICIAL MECHANISM : The “flagship” of the tools, which is indeed the basis of the latest data, seems to have an increasingly large flow of applications. The changes made by the Ministry of Internal Affairs also contributed to this, according to which:
Debt reduction reaches 28% after the modification of the relevant algorithm
The interest rate becomes fixed at 3% for 3 years for all arrangements
Banks and the State must accept the debt restructuring proposal for vulnerable debtors.
The borrower reserves the right to reject the proposal while the banks and servicers, in case of disagreement, should go to court (and bear the costs of the process) to challenge the proposal, if they have evidence that proves that the vulnerable is not really vulnerable.

INTERMEDIATE SUPPORT PROGRAM: Vulnerable debtors can avoid eviction by digitally issuing a Vulnerable Debtor Certificate. With the certificate, they can join the intermediate program which provides for a government subsidy of the installment of the housing loan of vulnerable debtors from 70 to 210 euros per month for 15 months. At the same time, seizures, auctions and evictions are suspended. Their property is transferred to a re-leasing agency which rents it to them and after 12 years they can, if they have – the possibility – buy it back.

OPEKA HOUSING BENEFIT : This is a welfare rent subsidy program, granted by OPECA, to households that rent their main residence, after submitting an electronic application and has a duration of six months. After the six months have passed, the beneficiary can reapply for membership. The amounts are as follows:

For the beneficiary: €70/month.
For each additional member of the household: surcharge of €35/month.
In the single-parent family, for the first minor member of the household: an increase of €70/month.
In households with unprotected children: an increase of €70/month

CODE OF ETHICS FOR BANKS : All borrowers (employees, pensioners, employees, freelancers, self-employed, partners and small businesses with an annual turnover of up to €1 million) can join, except for medium and large businesses.

The solutions provided by the Code of Conduct can be the temporary or the final arrangement of the loans which may include, for example, the extension of the repayment period of the loan, the reduced payment installment, the temporary payment of only interest, the separation of the debt, the deletion of part of the total claim.

In the “arsenal” of the debtors are still the fixed arrangements of 24 and 48 installments, the bilateral arrangements with the banks or the servicers, while especially for the homeless there is the “HOUSING and WORK” program.