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Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 16-07-26
CONTENTS
[01] NPLs are expected to rise further in 2016, Bank of Greece report says
[01] NPLs are expected to rise further in 2016, Bank of Greece report says
Non-performing loans are expected to rise further this year, the Bank of
Greece said its review of the Greek financial system released on Tuesday.
The central bank said that NPLs were expected to increase during 2016
depending on how fast banks would proceed with portfolio restructuring
(limiting the cost of loan servicing through refinancing of existing
loans with more favourable terms, exchanging corporate debt with equity
capital), even in the case of macro-economic conditions returned to
normality, since there is historically a time delay between a positive
return of macro-economic environment and reducing NPLs.
The Bank of Greece estimates that credit risk and a further deterioration
of the quality of loan portfolio was the most significant source of
uncertainty for the financial system.
Loan portfolio quality of Greek credit institutions continues
deteriorating from the beginning of the financial crisis until
today. Adverse macro-economic conditions led to nominal wage cuts,
higher unemployment, raising the number of workers in part-time jobs
and to more flexible labour forms. These developments combined with
higher taxation contributed to a significant reduction in available
income and a weakening of the ability to repay loans by both households
and enterprises. Additionally, the imposition of capital controls in
June 28, 2015 has made economic activity more difficult. As a result,
the percentage of non-performing loans grew to 44.2 pct in 2015, from
39.9 pct in 2014. This situation deteriorated further as in the first
quarter of 2016 this percentage grew to 45.1 pct.
The central bank said that loans in delay of more than 90 days accounted
for 30 pct of NPLs and warned that this evidence is an early warning
signal for credit risk developments in the banking system. The Bank of
Greece said that an integrated plan was necessary to offer solution in
the management of early overdue debt.
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