Non-Performing Loans

From the PM's point of view, over-taxation, the suffocation of the middle class, and the dramatic plunge in public investment are not particularly problematical.

The Bank of Greece rang the alarm bells over the danger of fiscal derailment due to Greece’s Council of State rulings which deemed unconstitutional earlier pension cuts and the abolition of holiday bonuses.

We make mistakes and sometimes unpardonable ones, Deputy PM Yannis Dragasakis told Parliament about arrangements on resolving non-performing loans.

A resolution of non-performing loans that were issued for borrowers to buy their primary residence was necessary.

Dimitris Tzanakopoulos said that lack of protection from foreclosure was a strategic choice of both New Democracy and Pasok because 'in the world of corrupt vested interests which they defend, the weak and vulnerable are not entitled to protection'.

The report states that discussions on the framework of protection from home foreclosures show that key parameters that had been set for the new arrangement have been completely met.

The two sides agreed that the maximum tax value of the protected property will be 250,000 euros and the maximum value of the remainder of a loan for which a home was used as collateral will be 130,000.

The current protection ceiling for primary residences – between 180,000 and 280,000 euros – is viewed as unrealistic by both the banks and creditors.

The government is signaling that it is all right if creditors are dissatisfied with the fact that it will not be able to meet a series of existing commitments by a 15 February deadline.

Merkel said that in public administration there has not been sufficient progress, despite the fact that more generally there has been progress on the reform front.

Greece is still up in the air, without direct contact with the markets, and without an ensured path in the final analysis.

The objective of the deal is to reduce Eurobank’s non-performing loans (NPLs) from 39 percent to 15 percent.

The government’s celebrations over the exit from the bailout memorandum may be useful for domestic consumption, but they have not persuaded investors, and those who had the daring to invest are running away.

European mechanisms which check and monitor banks with particularly tight oversight have created a mutually acceptable plan for reducing NPLs, and have concluded that it is adequate and viable, but the markets show with their stance that they do not trust it.

The truth is that Greek banks are in a much better position than they were two years ago. They have improved their position. Their liquidity is better, and they are earnestly trying to reduce the burden of NPLs.

The situation was aggravated when the government showed in every way possible that it is more motivated by its electoral pursuits and political aims than by anything else.

The return to normalcy in the banking system is a decisive factor in stabilising the economy and giving it the necessary breathing space to meet fiscal and development goals.

The government is returning to the policies of civil service hiring and welfare benefits, implemented between 2004 and 2009, with disastrous results.

Coeure referred to the need to improve the governance of banks, and called on the government to avoid practices that could influence their credit decisions