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ATHENS--National Bank of Greece SA, Greece's largest lender by assets, plans to pay back some €2.5 billion ($3.58 billion) in loans from the European Central Bank next year, the ledner's new boss said Monday.
"By mid-January we will start giving back some of what we owe to the ECB," NBG Chief Executive Apostolos Tamvakakis told journalists.
That will include two payments to the ECB, one in January and one in June, bank officials said.
The goal by the end of next year is to reduce NBG's total outstanding loans to the ECB to €6 billion, Mr. Tamvakakis said at a press luncheon.
In later remarks to Dow Jones Newswires, Mr. Tamvakakis clarified that NBG had borrowed €1.5 billion from the ECB at its most recent auction this month, bringing total outstanding borrowings to €11 billion.
Greek banks have been among the heaviest borrowers from the ECB, with a combined €47 billion drawn from the ECB's special liquidity window, which was opened to help Europe's banks overcome a shortage in liquidity stemming from the financial crisis.
A recent announcement by the ECB to gradually close that facility has sparked a sell-off in Greek banking stocks, which have lost roughly a quarter of their value in the past two months.
In his remarks, Mr. Tamvakakis reiterated that the Greek banking system overall is healthy and robust, with high levels of both capital adequacy and liquidity which surpass the European average. The Core Tier 1 capital adequacy of Greek banks currently averages around 8.8%, and is above 9% for NBG, compared with 8% on average for the rest of the European banking sector, he said.
"The Greek banks are fine, and in a very good state as regards their capital adequacy and their liquidity," he said. "In addition, the support that Greek banks received from the state was much smaller than for other European banks."
Altogether, Greece's banks have availed themselves of about €15 billion worth of a €28 billion bank liquidity program introduced by the Greek government in late 2008.
The four major banking groups—NBG, EFG Eurobank Ergasias SA, Alpha Bank SA and Piraeus Bank SA—have issued preference shares to the Greek government as a precondition for participating in the program. Mr. Tamvakakis said the banks would most likely coordinate their plans so they exit the program together, most likely later next year.
Mr. Tamvakakis was appointed CEO of NBG on Dec. 2, replacing Takis Arapoglou, who is widely credited with expanding NBG's presence across Southeast Europe, including a landmark $3 billion acquisition of Turkey's Finansbank AS in 2006. Mr. Tamvakakis said NBG is exploring other acquisitions and signaled the bank's interest in expanding its operations in Romania
"By mid-January we will start giving back some of what we owe to the ECB," NBG Chief Executive Apostolos Tamvakakis told journalists.
That will include two payments to the ECB, one in January and one in June, bank officials said.
The goal by the end of next year is to reduce NBG's total outstanding loans to the ECB to €6 billion, Mr. Tamvakakis said at a press luncheon.
In later remarks to Dow Jones Newswires, Mr. Tamvakakis clarified that NBG had borrowed €1.5 billion from the ECB at its most recent auction this month, bringing total outstanding borrowings to €11 billion.
Greek banks have been among the heaviest borrowers from the ECB, with a combined €47 billion drawn from the ECB's special liquidity window, which was opened to help Europe's banks overcome a shortage in liquidity stemming from the financial crisis.
A recent announcement by the ECB to gradually close that facility has sparked a sell-off in Greek banking stocks, which have lost roughly a quarter of their value in the past two months.
In his remarks, Mr. Tamvakakis reiterated that the Greek banking system overall is healthy and robust, with high levels of both capital adequacy and liquidity which surpass the European average. The Core Tier 1 capital adequacy of Greek banks currently averages around 8.8%, and is above 9% for NBG, compared with 8% on average for the rest of the European banking sector, he said.
"The Greek banks are fine, and in a very good state as regards their capital adequacy and their liquidity," he said. "In addition, the support that Greek banks received from the state was much smaller than for other European banks."
Altogether, Greece's banks have availed themselves of about €15 billion worth of a €28 billion bank liquidity program introduced by the Greek government in late 2008.
The four major banking groups—NBG, EFG Eurobank Ergasias SA, Alpha Bank SA and Piraeus Bank SA—have issued preference shares to the Greek government as a precondition for participating in the program. Mr. Tamvakakis said the banks would most likely coordinate their plans so they exit the program together, most likely later next year.
Mr. Tamvakakis was appointed CEO of NBG on Dec. 2, replacing Takis Arapoglou, who is widely credited with expanding NBG's presence across Southeast Europe, including a landmark $3 billion acquisition of Turkey's Finansbank AS in 2006. Mr. Tamvakakis said NBG is exploring other acquisitions and signaled the bank's interest in expanding its operations in Romania
