Gikas Hardouvelis: Performance of Greek banks among the best in Europe

The performance of the domestic bank sector in liquidity, capital adequacy, and effectiveness steadily remains among the best in Europe, Hellenic Bank Association (HBA) Chairman Gikas Hardouvelis said on Friday, following a meeting with SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance party leader Sokratis Famellos and other party members on Friday, who had requested a briefing.

An HBA statement said the meeting was held in a cordial climate and dialog was constructive, while Hardouvelis spoke of the importance of a stable banking system in order to guarantee economic development and prosperity for all.

Hardouvelis, who is also chairman of the National Bank of Greece, noted that Greek banks were the basic consultants for Greek businesses on issues of transparency and good governance, having developed good governance processes themselves. They are also strictly regulated and inspected frequently by European and Greek supervising authorities. He added that Greek banks were also among the best employers and played a leading role in corporate social responsibility, having supported large social groups and access for all to health, education, culture, and managing natural catastrophes with over 400 million euros in total. In addition, banks recently decided to support the upgrade of nearly 630 school facilities, as well as the agency helping borrowers acquire property, with an additional 200 million euros, Hardouvelis said.

The HBA chairman also noted that banks were among the first businesses to be hit during the crisis, while shareholders lost their capital twice. The public also incurred losses the second time, but cumulatively the state did not lose funds from the process because of several factors (PSI benefits, interim revenues, and revenues from the disinvestment from the Hellenic Financial Stability Fund).

Following the presentation by other officials of the Hellenic Bank Association, Hardouvelis underlined, “The Greek banking system has exhibited tremendous strength and resilience. Today it leads Greece’s economic life and actively participates in supporting entrepreneurship and society. It provides modern services to individuals and businesses alike, it takes a leading role and invests significant capital in Greece’s digital transformation, and it has gained the confidence both depositors and investors. Its track record in liquidity, capital adequacy, and effectiveness steadily remains among the highest in Europe. And this good performance is returned to society in the form of significant projects of corporate social respinsibility.”

Source: pagenews.gr