In a speech at the Annual General Meeting of the Board of Directors of the Hellenic Bank Association (HBA), Minister of National Economy and Finance Kyriakos Pierakakis highlighted the strong health of Greece’s banking and financial system — capital-strong, sufficiently liquid, and increasingly profitable.
He stressed that banks are not merely part of the economic ecosystem but its catalyst — one that doesn’t just respond to growth, but actively triggers it.
Pierakakis noted that going forward, bank profitability and Greece’s economic growth rate will move in tandem: neither can advance meaningfully without the other. He pointed out that for every €100 in deposits, Greek banks currently lend out around €70 — significantly less than the near-100% lending ratio seen across much of the eurozone. As a share of GDP, Greek banks’ loan portfolios remain among the lowest in the Eurosystem, he said, underscoring a key advantage: abundant liquidity waiting to be converted into real economic expansion — a privilege few European countries possess today.
“No one else will bring these tools to you. The ability to create them belongs to you,” he told bank executives, citing IRIS — Greece’s instant payment system — as daily proof of the sector’s innovative capacity. “That same innovation must now shift from payments to financing,” he added, pledging full state support for such initiatives. He emphasized that public trust in banks is built through everyday actions — fair fees, fair treatment of small depositors, and tangible local impact. “People will believe in banks’ new role only when they see it in their own pockets and in their own neighborhoods,” he said.
The minister also addressed the large segment of the economy still frozen outside mainstream activity: millions of individuals and their assets remain under servicing companies — effectively sidelined from economic life. “People who cannot borrow, properties that cannot be utilized, small businesses unable to restart — a substantial part of our economy has been on hold for years,” he observed. “This cannot be solved piecemeal.” Instead, he called for comprehensive solutions built on three pillars:
The State
Responsible for regulating, coordinating, and strengthening the institutional framework governing servicers.
The Banks
Tasked with opening pathways for reintegration: borrowers who have successfully restructured and are repaying loans should regain access to refinancing and fair-market second chances within the banking system.
The Servicers
Obligated to deliver sustainable, transparent solutions — because, as Pierakakis put it, they manage not just loan portfolios, but people’s lives.
On government action, he noted significant expansion of the out-of-court debt settlement mechanism — lowering the eligibility threshold to €5,000 and accelerating procedures.