Greek Banks' Borrowing From ECB Jumps In May, Snaps Downtrend
June 24 2011 - 2:30AM
Dow Jones News
Greek banks sharply increased their borrowings from the European
Central Bank in May to EUR97.5 billion, reversing a four-month
downtrend, data released by the Greek central bank showed
Friday.
In April, Greek banks had borrowed EUR86.9 billion, as part of a
continued emergency lifeline extended by the ECB to banks in Europe
which faced liquidity squeezes. In December, that borrowing peaked
at EUR97.7 billion.
In May last year, the Greek government narrowly avoided default
with the help of a EUR110 billion bailout from the European Union
and the International Monetary Fund, but its bonds have since been
downgraded to junk status.
Since then, Greek banks have been effectively frozen out of
European interbank markets amid fears that a Greek sovereign
default would drag down the country's banks.
Greece's four major lenders--the National Bank of Greece SA
(NBG), EFG Eurobank Ergasias SA (EUROB.AT), Alpha Bank SA
(ALPHA.AT) and Piraeus Bank SA (TPEIR.AT)--have all been under
pressure to reduce their dependence on ECB liquidity.
-By Alkman Granitsas, Dow Jones Newswires; +30 210 331 2881;
alkman.granitsas@dowjones.com