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Athens News Agency: News in English, 09-05-28
CONTENTS
[01] Greek banks healthy
[01] Greek banks healthy
Banks which will be able to maintain their healthy capital conditions
in the next two years -a period of anticipated worsening in lending
quality- will be in a marked advantageous position, Takis Arapoglou,
chairman of National Bank of Greece said on Wednesday.
Addressing a seminar on the international financial crisis, organized
by the Bank of Greece, Arapoglou said liquidity in the banking system
has become not only sparse but more expensive and stressed that a
gradual recovery of confidence in markets was helping banks reducing
their dependence from European Central Bank's short-term liquidity,
raising money through bond issues.
Commenting on bank lending in Greece, Arapoglou, said demand would
remain high, compared with other mature markets in Europe, despite a
financial crisis, while he said that banks' asset quality was expected
to be downgraded further.
A government-sponsored program to boost liquidity in the Greek economy
was not subsidization of the banking system, while it did not carry any
burden for Greek taxpayers, but would create significant revenues for
the state budget, Nikolaos Nanopoulos, Eurobank's chief executive, told
the seminar.
Nanopoulos said Greek banks have no exposure to high-risk investment
products, nor they have been involved in speculative activities. On the
contrary, they followed structured strategies combining development on
solid bases, relatively low leverage, relatively limited dependence on
money markets and controlled risk taking.
Caption: ANA-MPA file photo of the Chairman of National Bank of Greece
Takis Arapoglou.
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