A Bank of Greece (BoG) review for the country’s banking sector in 2018 notes that it remains in a “recovery orbit”, as an official exit from the bailout era and a modest economic growth have consolidated credit stability.
At the same time, the BoG emphasized that a further reduction in “bad debt”, improved credit extension and liquidity are a necessary condition for systemic banks to free up capital for the “real economy”.
At present, Greece thrice recapitalized systemic banks have weaned themselves completely off an ELA credit line, meaning a return to a normal borrowing cycle.
In terms of reducing non-performing loans (NPLs), the still massive “mountain” of “bad debt” stood at 81.8 billion euros at the end of 2018, or 45.4 percent of the total, down from 94.4 billion euros (47.2 percent) at the end of 2017.
