EMEA INTERVIEW
Eurobank, the leading savings bank in Greece Mr. Iakovos Giannaklis, General Manager of Retail Banking at Eurobank Ergasias SA, describes the current state of banking in Greece and the bank’s commitment to building strong client relations through customized banking solutions. Could you give us your views on the current situation of the banking sector in Greece?
Iakovos Giannaklis General Manager of Retail Banking Eurobank Ergasias
Iakovos Giannaklis: The Greek economy, especially the banking sector, was affected by the 2010 debt crisis and Greek banks have been recapitalized three times in the past eight years. However, since 2017, country’s figures have improved significantly. Greece, following stagnation in 2015-2016 and average growth around 1,4% in 2017, exited the eight-year EU bailout program. In addition, GDP increased by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter of 2018, on an annual basis, completing six consecutive quarters of growth, the longest period, since the beginning of the crisis. These form an important milestone in the recovery process of the Greek economy, marking the beginning of a more positive and promising phase
for the Greek banking sector and a good starting point to cope with the important main challenges: The high percentage of Non-Performing Exposures (NPEs), the return of deposits that were withdrawn from Greek banks during the crisis and a sustainable profitable course. Following the successful completion of the Stress Tests and the improved financial results announced for 2018: Q2, what are your expectations for Eurobank’s goals and targets? Iakovos Giannaklis: Eurobank performed remarkably well in the stress tests. Our capital base has shown resilience to external shocks and in the baseline scenario, the bank was capital accretive over the three-year period examined. The ECB exercise confirms that, notwithstanding the strict assumptions of the adverse scenario, Eurobank remains resilient to external shocks. Eurobank’s total capital, at the high end of the sector, and its overall solid performance, allow us to streamline all our efforts in order to implement and deliver our business priorities.
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