Greek bankers stress need to reach agreement now with creditors
The heads of Greece's four systemic banks have urged the Greek government to swiftly wrap up talks and reach an agreement with the country's EU partners and creditors that will "confirm the country's European course." The four outlined their positions in interviews appearing in the Sunday edition of "Kathimerini".
National Bank of Greece CEO Leonidas Fragiadakis, echoing an earlier interview given by the bank's non-executive president Louka Katseli on Greece's Alpha channel on Saturday, stressed that an agreement would "help kickstart the economy, putting the country onto a steady path of growth."
He noted that an honest reform effort, combined with a determination for strict adherence, could make Greece an attractive destination for investments.
Stressing the time factor, Fragiadakis warned that Greece might miss out on an opportunity to exploit a particularly favourable economic environment generated by quantitative easing in the EU and a fall in oil prices.
Alpha Bank CEO Demetrios Mantzounis also stressed the importance of ending a climate of uncertainty. He said this was "of the highest importance, not just for the banking system but for Greece's economy generally" since it would allow its "innate potential" to be expressed at a very favourable juncture for production, with the euro relatively weak, oil prices were low and various European packages designed to boost growth were available.
Piraeus Bank CEO Anthimos Thomopoulos talked about the need to "break the cycle of underfunding and disinvestment," which he said was the only way to address the "explosive social problems" accumulated during the extended recession. A positive outcome in the talks with the creditors and restoring smooth financing conditions for the public sector would help boost the country's credit rating and allow borrowing from the markets at competitive rates, he said.
According to Eurobank CEO Fokion Karavias, the extended uncertainty and credit pressure were "gradually eroding the real economy" and the current situation could not continue. He also emphasised the time factor as crucial and spoke of an urgent need for a "realistic agreement" with the creditors that must be adopted by the entire political spectrum, as had happened in Portugal, Ireland and Cyprus.
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