{"id":13244,"date":"2026-06-28T08:43:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-28T05:43:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/?p=13244"},"modified":"2026-06-28T08:43:00","modified_gmt":"2026-06-28T05:43:00","slug":"a-new-era-for-greek-banks-profitability-liquidity-and-a-vote-of-confidence-from-foreign-rating-agencies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/?p=13244","title":{"rendered":"A New Era for Greek Banks \u2013 Profitability, Liquidity, and a \u201cVote of Confidence\u201d from Foreign Rating Agencies"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Greek banking system<\/strong> continues to post positive results in the first quarter of 2026<\/strong>, further aligning itself with the largest European banks. <\/p>\n

The picture is characterized by strong profitability<\/strong>, high capital adequacy<\/strong>, significant liquidity<\/strong>, and continuous improvement in asset quality. At the same time, the banks\u2019 returns remain higher than the average for the Eurozone, a fact reflected both in their performance and in the ratings assigned by international agencies. <\/p>\n

According to a recent report by the European Central Bank<\/strong>, Greek banks outperform the European average on a number of key indicators. <\/p>\n

The standout figures <\/h3>\n
    \n
  • Annual growth in activity reached 8.73%<\/strong>, compared to 4.7%<\/strong> in Europe.<\/li>\n
  • Organic profitability<\/strong> stood at 4.82%<\/strong>, while the corresponding average for European systemic banks was 2.77%<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
  • The cost-to-income ratio<\/strong> stood at 36%<\/strong>, significantly lower than the 55%<\/strong> recorded in Europe, while return on equity<\/strong> stood at 11%<\/strong>, compared to 10%<\/strong> in the Eurozone.<\/li>\n
  • In terms of liquidity<\/strong>, the loan-to-deposit ratio<\/strong> stood at 65%<\/strong>, compared to 102%<\/strong> in Europe, while the liquidity coverage ratio<\/strong> reached 189%<\/strong>, compared to 154%<\/strong>\u2014the European average.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    The picture according to the Bank of Greece <\/h2>\n

    In the latest Report on Monetary Policy<\/strong>, the Bank of Greece<\/strong> notes a further strengthening of the banking system\u2019s fundamentals. <\/p>\n

    Strong capital base <\/h3>\n

    The return on equity (ROE)<\/strong> stood at 10.7%<\/strong>, remaining above the Eurozone average and confirming the improvement in the banks\u2019 operational efficiency. <\/p>\n

    The CET1 ratio<\/strong> rose to 14.9%<\/strong>, while the total capital ratio remained close to 20%<\/strong>, providing significant buffers against potential external pressures. <\/p>\n

    Greek banks\u2019 performance in international markets was also particularly positive. In 2025<\/strong>, they raised 2.7 billion euros<\/strong> through AT1<\/strong> securities and an additional 0.9 billion euros<\/strong> through Tier II<\/strong> bonds. <\/p>\n

    This momentum continues in 2026<\/strong>, with new issuances of capital and senior bonds, while since the beginning of the year, approximately 1.2 billion euros<\/strong> have been raised through green bonds<\/strong>, bolstering the financing of investments related to the green transition. <\/p>\n

    Continued improvement in loan portfolios <\/h2>\n

    Asset quality continues to improve. <\/p>\n

    The non-performing loan (NPL) ratio<\/strong> stood at 3.4%<\/strong> in the first quarter of 2026<\/strong>, remaining virtually unchanged from the end of the previous year. <\/p>\n

    Although it remains above the Eurozone average, the gap is steadily narrowing. <\/p>\n

    At the same time, the percentage of Stage 2 loans<\/strong>\u2014that is, performing loans with elevated credit risk\u2014fell to 6.8%<\/strong>, which is lower than the corresponding European average. <\/p>\n

    This development led to lower credit risk provisions and further strengthened the banks\u2019 organic results. <\/p>\n

    In their medium-term business plans, management continues to forecast a further reduction in NPLs<\/strong>, with the aim of achieving even greater convergence with European levels. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    \n The Greek banking system continues to post positive results in the first quarter of 2026, further narrowing the gap with …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13245,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13244","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13244","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13244"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13244\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13245"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13244"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13244"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13244"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}