Non-performing exposures (NPEs) of Greece’s banks have fallen by €4.7 billion to €95.7bn or 43.1 percent of banks’ overall loan book, Bank of Greece the data had shown. This compares with a target of 48.5%, or €95.9bn.
NPEs comprise restructured loans likely to turn sour and non-performing loans (NPLs), which are credit past due for more than 90 days. Cutting them would free up more capital to fund productive sectors of the economy.
Greek lenders had NPEs totalling €14.5bn ($16.32 billion), or 5.5% of loans, when the global financial crisis began in 2008.
While NPEs soared to €106.9bn or 50.5% of loans at the end of June 2016, banks have agreed with European Central Bank regulators to shrink them to €64.6bn by end-2019, meaning the NPE ratio will fall to 35.2% of their loan books.
The agreed targets are back-loaded, meaning most of the reduction will take place this year and in 2019.
The reduction in the fourth quarter was the highest quarterly drop since the start of the crisis, the central bank said, brought about mainly by write-offs of €2.1bn and loan sales of €1.8bn.
The central bank noted more progress on consumer and business loan NPEs compared to sour mortgages during the fourth quarter.
At the end of December 2017, the NPE ratio of mortgages was 43.4 percent, that of consumer loans 49.3% with sour business loans at 41.8%. Coverage by loan-loss provisions was 47.4 percent, slightly down from the third quarter. (full article eureporter)
Bank of Greece Report on Operational Targets for Non-Performing Exposures
full report here in pdf
In February 2018, the annual growth rate of total credit extended to the economy stood at -1.8% from -1.6% in the previous month, while the monthly net flow was negative at €1,202 million, compared with a negative net flow of €1,237 million in the previous month.
The annual growth rate of total deposits stood at 7.7% from 6.8% in the previous month, while the monthly net flow was positive at €528 million, compared with a positive net flow of €1,491 million in January 2018. Bank credit & deposits Feb 2018
