The recapitalization and reorganization of the banking sector had a positive benefit for the Greek taxpayer, as pointed out by the Governor of the Bank of Greece, Yiannis Stournaras.

In the context of his speech at a meeting of the competent parliamentary committees for the disinvestment of the Financial Stability Fund, Mr. Sournaras said that a “first assessment of the costs of the recapitalization and restructuring of the banking sector compared to the benefits obtained by the Greek State, taking into account the voluntary restructuring of the Greek public debt (Private Sector Involvement), shows that the Greek taxpayer has so far benefited in total by which is estimated at around 3.5 billion euros».

As Mr. Stournatas noted, “having been fully privatized and with sound fundamentals, the Greek banking system can look to the future with optimism. Banks have restarted financing the real economy, while credit growth rates will also be boosted by business loan disbursements linked to the Recovery and Resilience Facility. Also, banks are investing in the digital transformation (digitalisation) of their operations in order to improve the services provided to their customers, but also to reduce operational costs».

At the same time, Mr. Stournaras added, banks are facing significant challenges, and among them, the challenge of private debt. As he said, the transfer of non-performing loans (NPLs) outside the banking sector “it does not automatically mean the final elimination of debt from the economy. The debt remains, with its management now carried out by the Loan and Credit Claims Management Companies [ΕΔΑΔΠ]». He even pointed out that, in December 2023, “the total value of the exposures managed by EDADP on behalf of Loan and Credit Acquisition Companies amounted to almost 70 billion euros».

Therefore, Mr. Stournaras said, the orderly operation of the market in question to achieve the final liquidation of private debt is an important parameter and the utilization of all available tools and options is a necessary condition. Examining the possibilities of re-introducing creditors who have significant sustainable investment plans that can be financed should be included and highlighted as an option that will contribute decisively to the liquidation of private debt, but also to the development of the real economy, he added Mr. Stournaras.

The governor of the Bank of Greece said that the banking sector has an important role to play in the effort to recover the economy after the pandemic, in the efficient distribution of productive resources and in the formation of a new productive model based on extroversion and innovation. This role becomes more important in a small and open economy, such as the Greek one, where its backbone is the small, medium and very small enterprises, which rely almost entirely on the banking system in order to obtain the required funds for their operation and the making new investments. In other words, the Greek economy is much more dependent on its banks than the European economy, Mr. Stournaras concluded.