Greece is pressing ahead with a plan to sell its stakes in the country’s banks, in a sign the financial industry is returning to normal after a decade-long debt crisis.
The country’s Hellenic Financial Stability Fund has agreed to sell a 9% stake in Alpha Bank to UniCredit SpA. It is also starting a process to divest a 20% holding in National Bank of Greece, a lender of which it owns about 40%.
The HFSF, a bank bailout fund that holds the government’s stakes, has said it wants to exit all holdings in the country’s lenders by the end of 2025. It also owns stakes in Piraeus Bank and Attica Bank.
The move comes after Greece regained its investment grade credit rating at firms including S&P Global Ratings after more than a decade. At the same time, the country’s lenders have significantly cut the amount of bad loans accumulated during the debt crisis, which shaved around a quarter off the country’s GDP. Non-performing loans (NPL) now make up 5.7% of the credit portfolio of Greece’s biggest banks combined, down from 33% three years ago.
The sales announced now follow the divestment from Eurobank Ergasias Services and Holdings SA last month, with the lender repurchasing the shares from state.
Original Story: BNN Bloomberg | Sotiris Nikas and Paul Tugwell
Photo: Alpha Bank website
Edition: Prime Yield