Greek Central Bank Warns Country "Unlikely To Survive Another Bout Of Instability" As Bank "Jog" Accelerates
Something unexpected happened on the road to the latest Greek "recovery": the local population no longer believes one is coming.
As Greece remains crippled by unprecedented capital controls preventing full access of the local population to its savings as a result of last summer's "referendum" and third bailout fiasco, and as Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras braces for another round of tough negotiations with creditors, "savers are still reluctant to bet their money that this year’s talks will be less perilous for their country’s place in the euro area than 2015", as Bloomberg puts it.
A less diplomatic way of saying it is that while the bank run has been forcibly stopped, the bank "jog" continues.
According to the latest Greece’s central bank data released this week, deposit outflows continued in November for a second consecutive month, even as the nation’s lenders plugged their capital shortfalls, and strict capital controls put in place last summer capped withdrawals and money transfers abroad.
Deposits held by households and businesses in Greek banks fell close to a 12-year-low of 120.9 billion euros ($131.3 billion) in November, bringing total losses to a record of more than 43 billion euros, or 26.4 percent of total savings, in the last 12 months.
Back to Bloomberg which says that the "savers’ distrust may derail the government’s goal of lifting capital controls by the end of June. Reluctance to return deposits held abroad or under mattresses back to banks hinders the ability of lenders to provide credit to the economy, as the government struggles to lead Greece out of recession in 2016 after a turbulent year which pushed the country to the verge of leaving the euro area."
This was reflect in separate data also released by the Bank of Greece which showed that private sector deleveraging picked up pace in November, with outstanding loan balances dropping 2.2 percent from the previous year. Credit contraction “returned with a vengeance in July, continued unabated in August, slowed in September, yet picked-up speed again in October and November,” Athens-based Pantelakis Securities’ analysts Paris Mantzavras and George Grigoriou wrote in a note to clients on Thursday.
It appears that after letting down his constituency at every possible turn, the Greeks no longer have trust or faith in their prime minister.
Even as Tsipras assures savers that the country’s banks are now among the most adequately capitalized in Europe and there’s no risk of haircut or re-denomination for deposits, Greeks are still unwilling to bring their savings back, as the government remains at loggerheads with creditors over demands for additional pension cuts. Pension savings is among the main conditions for unlocking Greece’s next aid tranche and for debt-relief talks between the country and its euro-area creditors to begin.
Meanwhile, In an article in Sunday’s Kathimerini, Bank of Greece Governor Yannis Stournaras underlined the importance of Greece’s Parliament approving measures agreed with creditors for the third bailout, including reforms to the pension and tax systems, and warned of the risks of a new period of “backsliding.”
According to Kathimerini, failing to successfully complete a review by creditors in the coming weeks could trigger a new bout of instability that Greece is unlikely to survive, according to the central bank governor who served as finance minister from July 2012 to June 2014.
"A potential failure to complete the review would have a destabilizing effect, bringing back to mind the negative experience of the first half of 2015,” he wrote, referring to a period of high tensions and political and financial uncertainty.
Stournaras desperately pleaded that "it is the key for the return of deposits to the Greek banking system and for the launch of discussions with partners on a series of positive actions."
So far the population refuses to cooperate.
In what has become an annual ritual, it appears Greece is about to break, all over again.
(8 votes)
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It's funny talking about Greece like their a sovereign nation....
I don't believe the greeks anymore. starting to look like a side show compared to the Saudi Salafists.
This shit again?
Let me summarize:
Greeks "We need moar money, and if we don't get it we'll blow ourselves up, and due to this stupid union it'll take the whole world with it."
Germany "How many zeros to the left of the decimal point do you need again?"
please, no "updates" from greece until there's gallons of blood on the streets - until then its just the same old tired shit
I'm just here for pictures of Kanelos, the Riot Dog.
he died
most likely poisoned by the govt
Please no updates from the us until there is no blood on the streets or schools (from a greek resident)
"please, no "updates" from greece until there's gallons of blood on the streets - until then its just the same old tired shit"
I see. So you're bored and that means people have to start dying so it can be entertaining enough to read ?
I'm more cynical than the next guy but..........
nigga gets it
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjPBp6DOwgU
well it isn't exactly so.... actually the Reich just paid for half the bailout, the rest was paid by the rest of Eu, (France, Italy and even Spain) and well that money just flew back to German and French banks that were overexposed on Greeek bonds, so it's not about moar money it is about how that money was spent while driving a developed country back to developing status.
Cheers from Milan
so you admit you believed them at some time in the past ?
No nation is a sovereign nation when bankers and their masters control the central bank and the politicians.
"It's funny talking about Greece like their a sovereign nation..."
well, it is. the funny thing about it is how you don't seem to understand the concept. sovereignty isn't a magic wand, or immense power
a sovereign country can be, for example, occupied, and so powerless. or divided, and so powerless, too. and so on
Greeks, for example, don't trust their government. with certain things, in particular
and so, for example, they prefer to hold EUR under their mattresses or abroad instead of Drachmas in Greek banks
meanwhile, Greek business enjoyed a great touristic season of 2015
A country that is occupied is no longer sovereign - independence is a requirement of sovereignty.
not according to (custom and) history. evidence abounds, including "governments in exile". further, being occupied is not the same as not being independent
and there are also plenty of cases of sovereignty without (complete) independence. I am sorry, but all those words have deep roots and meanings going long time back
Ghordius still thinks he is a virgin even after waking up from a drunk stupor with a real sore ass.
and you sound as if you would be raped on a daily basis. which, in a figurative way, seems to be a common complaint, here. perspective matters, I agree
and yes, I have definitely a different perspective, based on my life here in europe
Congratulations, Ghordius! You have been awarded the prize for knowing the difference between 'their', 'there', and 'they're'!
Listen, children, these three words all sound the same when you say them but they mean different things so you should use extra special care when writing them to ensure that you are using the word you meant to use.
And, children, it is 'their' and not 'thier'. The latter word does not exist in the English language so if you see a red line under 'thier' (and I don't mean under there), you should go back and correct it because you haven't spelt (or spelled, either is fine) correctly.
Sovereign: They're all their own masters there.
congratulations on being a douche
The Greek Banks should have been allowed to go bankrupt nearly a year ago.
Greece will make no progress until it allows the Greek banks to go bust and new banks to spring up in their place. Propping the banks up merely delays the day when the depositors lose their money and prevents real progress.
They simply need to default, say "Oxi" to EU bailouts and let the banks go broke. Then start afresh with or without a currency of their own. Using Euros offers no long term advantages over using dollars or Yuan or Rubles or whatever - but does carry significant disadvantages.
I know it's the beginning of the year, but with another Greece article I can't figure out what year. They all look the same to me.
so its all greek to you ?
We're all going to be Greek soon.....or maybe I should say Greeked soon.
I have a friend who imports product from Greece. He tells me that the suppliers have given him details of foreign bank accounts where monies are to be deposited.
Rather than control over money flows there should be controls over politicians. Everything else after that is easy.
What, the Greeks actually make stuff, or is he just importing refugees from the middle east.
a bit incomplete. I am missing... well, everything about the recent restructurations of the four big Greek banks. the whole reason why Greece dropped from any news, for a while
and now this article showing us a flat line of Greek deposits, meaning that Greeks aren't ready to trust those banks again... period. well, trust... is earned
tsipras was so so close to pulling the plug on the failed euro currency system, regaining greece's sovereiengty from the 4th reich and even had 62% support of the people (the other 38% being the nepotistic corrupt scumbags who benefited from the status quo) and sold out like all the previous traitors before him
maybe it's not too late. maybe he tried to buy time to get through the busy summer season (a record in terms of foreign arrivals) but his time to make a move and deal with the brutal short term pain is closing fast as the busy summer 2016 season is approaching in about 5 months
tick tock either way
Please be aware that Greece has no real politicians. Just puppets and parasites.
Sounds like what we have here in the US...
correct
4th Reich?
Please, Germany is every bit as much a slave to this as Greece is.
ah, our American Cousins trying to have their cakes and eat them too... as usual
could you please agree on anything? you know, like after using facts for well reasoned arguments?
the current argument used in the US against the EUR in regard to Germany is that it is in Germany's favour. they point at exports
seriously, this Good Cop / Bad Cop routine is tiring
Germany has not profited from the EURO, but has been the least hurt by it. The two ideas are not the same.
Please quit conflating the two.
sure
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NJuCODfLHjM/UBhj-TYVOhI/AAAAAAAAAoo/uXTN2GMIK6...
lol
https://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/LORSGPORDEQ661S#
Let me introduce you to this concept called opportunity cost.
Average growth, according to this data series between 1960 and the EURO introduction was 3,8% & after the EUR was 2,7%, or Germany has on average lost 1% GDP growth per year since the introduction of the EURO.
If you go with Bundesstatistikamt's figures German growth before EUR was ca., 2,7% and after 0,7%.
Take German GDP in Q4 1999 and compound its average 2,7% growth (from the above data series) for 15 years, which will give you today's GDP -- make that 3,8% -- and Germany would have a ton more money in the system than it does. Throw on top of that the free cash that has been dished out to the Greeks, Spanish, Italians, etc., etc., and you can begin to comprehend how much this has cost Germany (but fuck the government, I care about the people) since 2000. We are in the tens of trillions measured in USD -- LOST -- at this point & time.
Want to cite another pseudo-defunkt blog found via a "I'll used Google image search because I don'T know what the fuck I am talking about" chart?
want to address the actual chart i put up instead of throwing out insults?
a controlled currency is going to have more impact on imports/exports. Germany clearly benefited more than anyone from the euro currency and the rules that they implemented
avg GDP growth may or may not have to do w/ the euro. why don't you compare it with world and/or euro area gdp growth during your time frames . and imagine if germany hadn't rigged the system where their GDP growth would have been.
free cash dished out? you mean the cash that went right back to German and other northern european banks (and now to central banks)? spare me the sob story about poor little germany who has now destroyed europe 3 times in 100 years
The chart you gave me is worthless.
If fails to tell us where said exports went (here is a hint, a ton went to the BRICS), to the UK, US and other non-EUR countries. Infact, since 2007 exports to the EMZ have shrunk, and dramatically so.
Next, as the cost of the DMark would have continued to rise, imports of raw materials would have continued to fall, offsetting many costs associated with a more valuable currency.
The cash went from the German taxpayers as an IOU to the banks that lent the German government the money, to Greece, who signed up to pay the Germans back, who will use the money to simply pay back the banks (but lets be honest, the Greeks will never pay Germany back), so that the Greeks could pay back the same banks that lent money to Germany to bail them out.
Unlike you -- I have nothing against the Greeks -- both countries are victims of the same system. For you to say Germany wins and Greece loses is full on 110% wrong.
For you to say that Germany has benefitted from the EURO is a complete fallacy. The biggest winners from the EURO is the banking system. Everyone else is just differing degrees of loosing.
Germany didn't destroy the continent because it was bored and felt like it. It was a power struggle between the Anglo-American empire on one side that teamed up the Russians vs the Germans on the other.
Before 1871 Europe got along via the English & French being the power players (and especially the English) while rising powers in the East (various German Kingdoms, Austria-Hungary, Poland & Russia) kept themselves in check by having smaller-scale wars, and allowing religious conflicts to keep them divided. Once Germany united in Jan. of 1871, in this cute little village with a ton of mirrors the new United Germany become more powerful than the French and the English combined, and dwarfed the Russians of the time. In order to preserve their power -- the English got the Germans and Russians to fight one another instead of teaming up like the English, French & Americans did.
I encourage you to watch this, by George Friedman of Stratfor before you start blaming the Germans for all the problems of Europe. Most European problems right now have more to do with the (in my opinion) the Anglo-American empire attempting to keep control of the Western World, and destroying their competition via immigration, fucked up currency unions, color revolutions, etc., etc.,
Tell me I'm wrong again.
hrow on top of that the free cash that has been dished out to the Greeks, Spanish, Italians, etc., etc., and you can begin to comprehend how much this has cost Germany (but fuck the government, I care about the people) since 2000.
Do you really believe the shit you are writing?? please show me the proof a single Euro has been given to Italy by the Reich governement.... and look about Gdp growth trend in France, the Reich and Italy from 2001 on, you will see why the only country that benefit from Euro is Germany, not even Finland the reich dog it's growing anymore
Again, you fail to grasp the Economics 101 concept of "Opportunity Cost."
The ECB backstopping Italian debt freed up hundreds of billions of Euros for other purposes since July 27 of 2012. If Italy didn't have the backstop of the ECB -- it would be forced to pay market rate for its debt, which is somewhere in the neighborhood of 7-12%, depending on maturity.
Why can the ECB backstop Italian debt, because at the end of the day -- the German government is seen as the "payor of last resort" by the investment community.
German efficiency is eating the French, Italians, Greeks & Spanish alive. They are having a super hard time competeting. That still doesn't offset the cannibalization the Euro has had on domestic consumption, the increased prices of raw material imports and all the bailouts.
P.S., Süd-Tirol belongs to Austria, Milan is nice, the rest of your country is a shithole, and a massive *LOL* to losing Fiat to the Netherlands, and the production of many Fiat products to Poland.
Well Sud Tirol can go away with Austria I actually don't give a shit about them, they are Germans not Italian, it's just a mistake of history, well another thing you miss is that if Italy Spain or France were still having ther national currency they would be at least 30% down against Euro with only Germany and the North Europe,
so hey even the magical German export will probably fall, the European central bank is printing Euros to buy periphery bonds, well so the periphery can still buy Audi, Shitwagen and expensive German machinery, see I still do not think that a single Euro has been given for free to Italy by the German taxpayers
What the Italians do with the free cash they get is their business.
If they want to purchase our products, because lets be honest -- a BMW is better than an Alfa, then they can. Getting mad at us for building better equipment sounds like a lot of butt-hurt and whining.
as they dish out demands, use Greece as the conduit vehicle to bail out their banks (back in 2010) and take Greece's assets at below market prices among many other methods of usurping sovereignty (take a look at all the asinine EU rules with regards to exports and milk shelf life)?
hardly "every bit as much"
You think its Germany dishing out the demands, or the banks behind the government, which also control the Greek government.
is that the banks that comply with the bonus cap? or those who weasel out of it? or those who don't have to comply with it?
I would imagine the Banks will do all three simultaneously.
Multijurisdictional entities can do lots of fun stuff.
+1, indeed, multinational banks aka megabanks do. but you forget that something like 50% of the eurozone banking system(s) is not this way
Hard to believe the Greeks don't trust the banksters.
None of the expats do either. Was at the bank to pay all our bills to run business, with cash. Just like everyone in the 2 hour line. No one here will ever make a deposit for savings to a bank. Mattresses full, freezers full, and shovels to dig holes sold out.
Coming soon to a country near you!
Tsipras can go fuck himself, he already fucked the Greek people.