Greek Banks Cut ECB Borrowing Further In March
May 12 2011 - 4:06AM
Dow Jones News
Greek banks reduced their borrowings from the European Central
Bank in March to EUR87.9 billion, data released by the Greek
central bank showed Thursday, extending a downtrend for a third
month after hitting a peak at the end of last year.
In February, Greek banks had borrowed EUR90.4 billion as part of
a continuing emergency lifeline the ECB extended to Greek and other
banks in Europe facing 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 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