Senior Greek banker says Greece will not default
English.news.cn 2010-09-08 21:22:23
ATHENS, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- A top official with the National Bank of Greece (NBG) on Wednesday expressed confidence in the country's economic future, saying Greece will not default.
"We strongly believe that there is no such a chance," Apostolos Tamvakakis, chief executive officer of the NBG, the biggest bank in the debt-ridden country, said during a meeting of NBG analysts.
Tamvakakis rejected scenarios that the bank was preparing for the worst through a capital increase of 2.8 billion euros (3.56 billion U.S. dollars) announced earlier.
NBG's announcement also fueled scenarios of imminent mergers. Tamvakakis stressed that the bank does not have such plans for the time being and decided to boost its capital and strength to face the new macroeconomic challenges.
The NBG announced that it has planned to raise 1.8 billion euros (2.28 billion dollars) in October from capital markets, selling shares and the rest from the sale of the 20 percent of its shares in the Turkish bank Finansbank in the first quarter of 2011.
NBG president Vasilis Rapanos added that this choice shows on the contrary that the bank believes that the climate has changed positively for Greece and the Greek banking sector in the past few months.
Greek banks have been under heavy pressure due to the debt crisis that has plagued Greece since late 2009. The banks were downgraded numerous times by international credit rating firms in early 2010 and lost deposits from Greek customers who struggled with the deep recession.
In July, Greek banks such as the NBG passed European stress tests. The Greek government also tries to support the sector, which is regarded as a pillar of the national economy.
Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou welcomed the NBG's move as a positive and promising development that "underlines investors' confidence in the Greek national economy."
Papaconstantinou said the government supports and encourages the efforts Greek banks have made to strengthen their position in the international environment.
At least 10 billion euros (12.71 billion dollars) out of a 110 billion euro (139.9 billion dollars) aid package approved for Greece this May by the European Union (EU) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) are invested on a special fund to support the banking sector.
Meanwhile, the Greek government has pledged an additional 25 billion euro (31.775 billion dollars) aid package to Greek banks as long as they guarantee that they will ease credit to companies and households.
Greece has also asked the help of foreign advisors to restructure the country's banking system to cope with the crisis. A first report with their proposals was expected later this month.
Editor: Deng Shasha