Banks Rally, Blue Chips Show Fatigue: A Two-Speed Market
Gains are concentrated in financials, leaving the real economy outside the rally
Gains are concentrated in financials, leaving the real economy outside the rally
As the RRF cycle closes, Greece pivots toward defense and technology as the next growth driver.
After last week’s sharp sell-off, the Athens Exchange staged a new upward correction — with banks, Viohalco, and Metlen leading the rally.
JP Morgan also made a slight upward revision to its profitability estimates for the Greek banks, taking into account the most recent industry data as well as valuation adjustments following the announcement of full-year 2024 results
Under the new tariffs, no fees apply to payments of obligations to the government, social security organizations, utilities, and insurance companies.
The Minister of Finance, Kostis Hatzidakis, analyses the measures which include the zeroing of charges for payments, the cap on commissions for remittances and changes to withdrawals and prepaid cards
Reduction of commissions for so-called "people's" transactions, strengthening of competition between banks & real estate development are the three strands of the government's policy
And extra tax (ENFIA) on the 20,000 properties that keep closed - Legislative intervention to reduce excessive charges for withdrawals (banks keep 2 in 20 euros!), transfers and bill payments - Package of measures for more loans with better interest rates
PM rejects tax on profits, but insists on better mortgage and deposit rates, lower commissions
Bank of America (BofA) reports Greek banks are becoming more appealing as the volume of loans is expanding, with the Greek banking sector posting stronger yields and lower valuations.
According to an article in Politico, citing Greek banking sources, the European Central Bank is expected to give the go-ahead in June for the four systemic lenders.
"We are determined to continue, more or less, in the same way, proceeding with all necessary structural reforms, sending the message that this country is investment-friendly," Mr. Hatzidakis said
How the big 2019 survey on bank commissions closes: Banks will accept guilty pleas for collusion in one class of transactions and pay fines. No other violations were found.
More specifically, Fitch Ratings upgraded Eurobank SA's Long-Term Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) to 'BB' from 'BB-', and Viability Ratings (VRs) to 'bb' from 'bb-'. The outlooks on the Long-Term IDRs are Stable.
Greece’s systemic lenders are reportedly ready to freeze interest rates, at late March 2023 levels, on mortgages held by borrowers for properties in the country.
Staikouras described the meeting as “tense”.
Finance Ministry tells lenders to reduce their commissions on 12 categories of transactions
"They should raise deposit rates immediately and significantly, and reduce the interest rate on new loans," Staikouras added.
The improving outlook for the Greek economy has attracted the interest of new players
The process for verifying the authenticity of digital documents will be the same as that used since July for other transactions, with the scanning of a QR code and six-digit OTP generated sent to the device of the person being identified.