Chairwoman of the Hellenic Banks Association Louka Katseli said that Greek banks face four major challenges before they return to normality.
Katseli, who is also head of Bank of Greece, spoke at a business event organized by the Hellenic British Chamber of Commerce and outlined the four issues, namely successful recapitalization of banks, restoring of depositors and investors confidence, settling of non-performing loans and injecting liquidity in the real economy.
Recapitalization of banks should be completed by the end of December without imposing a haircut on deposits, regardless of amount.
Restoring confidence to depositors which can only be accomplished by ensuring political stability and maintaining credibility and solvency of banks towards customers.
The settling of non-performing loans in both retail and corporate markets should be accomplished through measures taken by the state and cooperation between creditors and debtors.
Finally, banks will be able to inject liquidity in the real economy after banks receive funds allocated by the bailout program.
Katseli said that a necessary and sufficient condition for economic recovery is to prepare a comprehensive investment program that would fully utilize available resources.
She also said that National Bank’s main priority is making proposals to the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) to mobilize and attract private capital. Katseli stressed the need to strengthen small and medium businesses through innovative initiatives such as the financing of productive value chains in sectors such as agriculture and shipping.
The event was by Britain’s Ambassador to Greece, John Kittmer, former interim prime ministers Panagiotis Pikramenos and Vassiliki Thanou, representatives of Chambers and senior executives from the business and investment sector.
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