At “table” is located proposal to increase the ENFIA rate for the properties that the banks do not use and do not put on the market, as a means of political pressure.

“What has fallen as a proposal on the table is whether the ENFIA rate could be increased as a political pressure on the banks for the properties that are not used and not put on the market”, pointed out the Minister of State and responsible for the monitoring the government project, Akis Skertsos, speaking to SKAI 100.3.

“What has happened in the last 5.5 years is that the exposure of the banking system has been reduced to a very low level thanks to the government’s policies on bad loans, it now moves to 6.5 to 7%. So this means that the banks now have the possibility to fulfill their role of giving loans, to see under what terms they will now give loans and how many loans they give to businesses and how many to households. And from there on, to play the role that befits banks for the development of the economy. It is not the case that they do not pay ENFIA. What has been dropped as a proposal on the table is whether the ENFIA rate could be increased as a political pressure on the banks for the properties that they do not use and do not put on the market”.

According to Mr. Schertsos, until 2020 and 2021 the banks were loss-making, as they recorded 6.5 billion in losses and they have started along with the rest of the growth that the economy is experiencing and they will record profits. “They have increased lending, but they need to improve lending conditions with more competitive interest rates. They must also improve the terms of interest rates on deposits which have also been increasing in recent years, bank deposits have increased by 45 to 50 billion and they must also give better interest rates to encourage other depositors to put their money into the banking system.” , he pointed out.

Regarding IRIS stated that there will be other interventions aimed at better functioning of competition. “We see that the credit extension of banks to businesses has increased, but the credit extension of banks to households to acquire houses remains hopelessly low. And right now with the growth of the real estate market and the economy in general there is indeed an overheating of real estate prices making rent unaffordable. Therefore, here we need the assistance of both the banking system and the state to help especially young couples, young families and single-member households to acquire their own home.

For the “My Home 1” he noted that 1 billion euros have been allocated through DYPA and approximately 9-9.5 thousand loans were disbursed to 9.5 thousand of our fellow citizens, new families and they have acquired their own home with a significantly reduced interest rate than the current bank rate.

The “My House 2” is coming to double the amount of around 1.5 billion euros from the beginning of January for 20 thousand additional beneficiaries. “Anyone who is interested in finding a home I think that if they do a proper market research and in areas where there are properties available they will also find opportunities and I think we have to recognize that this is a deeply social policy that comes to face a new problem that creates development, the minister underlined.