By A. Doga
As expected the European Central Bank will await implementation of the latest prior actions taken by Athens before restoring a waiver that allows Greek bonds to be used as collateral within the ECB system, a development that would have boosted liquidity and cheapened the cost of borrowing by Greece’s systemic banks.
ECB head Mario Draghi, as expected, cited this exact point in statements after an ECB board of directors’ meeting in Vienna on Thursday. Although the fact that the waiver was not restored doesn’t affect banks’ results in the present, the optimism cultivated by the leftist Greek government in the recent period and the staggered manner in which it fulfilled the most recent demands by creditors sent yet another negative message to markets – as a well as an ominous
Draghi said creditors must confirm that the first review of the Greek program has truly concluded, with the ECB ready to make a relevant decision on the waiver at its next board meeting in Frankfurt on June 22.
