Greece’s four top banks are expected to need an extra capital injection of about 5 billion euros (US$6.9 billion), local media said on Sunday, as the country’s international lenders prepared for a new audit of Greek finances.
The Bank of Greece is currently evaluating the restructuring plans of the country’s four main lenders — National Bank, Alpha Bank, Piraeus Bank and Eurobank — before releasing stress test results that will show whether they can absorb possible future shocks from bad loans.
The Ethnos newspaper reported that the central bank’s preliminary estimates put the banks’ capital needs at about 5 billion euros, while Realnews said it would be about 4.5 euros to 4.8 billion euros.
The central bank said official results would be published by early next month.
Officials from the EU, the European Central Bank (ECB) and IMF were yesterday to begin their latest audit of Greek finances to decide whether a new tranche of aid will be released.
The so-called troika of lenders — the EU, IMF and the ECB —will also meet with Greek Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras.
Last month, Bank of Greece Governor George Provopoulos warned of rising bad loans, saying the “late repayment of loans could lead to a reduction of banks’ capital and the need for [new] capital to pay high commissions.”
The Greek banking sector underwent radical restructuring and consolidation last year under the terms of the country’s bailout deal with the EU, IMF and the ECB.
The four top banks were recapitalized as part of the terms included in the latest EU-IMF bailout deal.
A period of consolidation of the banking sector followed, with the big four rapidly acquiring smaller rivals and the subsidiaries of foreign banks who had pulled out.
A sum of 50 billion euros from the rescue loans was earmarked for the recapitalization of banks following the heavy losses they suffered by taking part in a write-down of privately-held Greek government bonds in 2012.
Meanwhile, Greece’s main opposition leader is certain a left-wing government will be in power by early next year and its top priority will be to negotiate a lightening of the country’s “unsustainable debt,” according to an interview published in a Sunday newspaper.
The present coalition government of conservatives and socialists could collapse this year if the Radical Left Coalition wins the May European election by a big margin, party leader Alexis Tsipras told To Vima.
Tsipras, the European Left’s candidate for the presidency of the European Commission, pledges to keep Greece in the eurozone and says he does not seek special treatment for Greece.
However, he added that if Greece’s eurozone partners do not agree on further cutting the country’s debt, he would stop servicing it.
The debt cutting negotiations will be the subject of an emergency EU summit that Tsipras will demand if his party forms a government.
Asked what would be his trump card in the negotiations, Tsipras said: “Europe knows Greece is the powerful energy partner of the year 2020,” referring to prospects for significant gas and oil finds in the Eastern Mediterranean, still at a stage of early exploration.
Singapore-based ride-hailing and delivery giant Grab Holdings Ltd has applied for regulatory approval to acquire the Taiwan operations of Germany-based Delivery Hero SE's Foodpanda in a deal valued at about US$600 million. Grab submitted the filing to the Fair Trade Commission on Friday last week, with the transaction subject to regulatory review and approval, the company said in a statement yesterday. Its independent governance structure would help foster a healthy and competitive market in Taiwan if the deal is approved, Grab said. Grab, which is listed on the NASDAQ, said in the filing that US-based Uber Technologies Inc holds about 13 percent of
The domestic unit of the Chinese-owned, Dutch-headquartered chipmaker Nexperia BV will soon be able to produce semiconductors locally within China, according to two company sources. Nexperia is at the center of a global tug-of-war over critical semiconductor technology, with a Dutch court in February ordering a probe into alleged mismanagement at the company. The geopolitical tussle has disrupted supply chains, with some carmakers reportedly forced to cut production due to chip shortages. Local production would allow Nexperia’s domestic arm, Nexperia Semiconductors (China) Ltd (安世半導體中國), to bypass restrictions in place since October on the supply of silicon wafers — etched with tiny components to
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday received government approval to deploy its advanced 3-nanometer (3nm) process at its second fab currently under construction in Japan, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a news release. The ministry green-lit the plan for the facility in Kumamoto, which is scheduled to start installing equipment and come online in 2028 with a monthly production capacity of 15,000 12-inch wafers, the ministry said. The Department of Investment Review in June 2024 authorized a US$5.26 billion investment for the facility, slated to manufacture 6- to 12nm chips, significantly less advanced than 3nm process. At a meeting with
Taiwan’s food delivery market could undergo a major shift if Singapore-based Grab Holdings Ltd completes its planned acquisition of Delivery Hero SE’s Foodpanda business in Taiwan, industry experts said. Grab on Monday last week announced it would acquire Foodpanda’s Taiwan operations for US$600 million. The deal is expected to be finalized in the second half of this year, with Grab aiming to complete user migration to its platform by the first half of next year. A duopoly between Uber Eats and Foodpanda dominates Taiwan’s delivery market, a structure that has remained intact since the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) blocked Uber Technologies Inc’s
RSS