The Greek government’s master plan to restore growth, after it emerges from eight years under harsh bailout conditions this August, revolves around a key factor that could jump start its economy: its banks.
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras will on Monday present in Athens the 110-page plan, which sets as its main priority the reduction of non-performing loans, the elimination of capital restrictions and the improvement of bank governance. Such steps will increase “the ability of the sector to serve the growing needs of the real economy”, according to a copy of the document obtained by Bloomberg News.
As part of a “transformation of the Greek financial sector”, the government pledged to set up cooperative banks that will operate at a regional level to finance small and medium-sized companies and local businesses. Maintaining adequate levels of capital at the nation’s four biggest banks is “a highly important element of the strategy”. Greece’s banking sector is the most highly concentrated in the euro zone, as the systemic banks hold around 96 per cent of total financial assets, according to the document.
Greece reached a technical agreement in Athens at the weekend with its creditors that will allow conclusion of its fourth and final bailout programme review, enabling policy makers to proceed with designing a framework for the country’s post-programme monitoring and determining what sort of strings would be attached to debt relief. Greek Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos said such a mechanism will be discussed at the June 21 Eurogroup meeting.
Greece’s banks, which passed the European Central Bank’s stress tests this month, are still burdened with one of the highest levels of non-performing loans in Europe, at nearly 50 per cent of total loans. The banks were hit hard as the country lost a quarter of its economic output in its crisis and underwent the world’s biggest sovereign-debt restructuring in 2012.
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Read more:
Greece's four biggest banks would lose 15.5bn euros of capital in stress scenario: ECB
Greece and creditors agree final bailout review terms
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The gradual withdrawal of the government from supporting the systemically important banks “will be thoroughly designed, on the basis of a rational shareholder’s practice, in order to achieve fair terms and a smooth transition,” according to the plan, while finding strategic investors will also be important for strengthening financial stability.
With its high NPL levels, the management of bad loans is considered key for the banks to be able to concentrate on their commercial function and support activities of viable businesses and the real economy.
The government plans to assess the costs and benefits of adopting an alternative procedure to resolve bad loans, such as setting up an asset management company in compliance with recent European Commission guidelines.
Greek banks have pledged to reduce non-performing exposures by 37 per cent, to €64.6 billion (Dh278.17bn) from €101.8bn, while non-performing loans will fall 47 per cent to €38.6bn from €72.8bn, between June 2017 and 2019.
Last but not least, the removal of capital restrictions on withdrawals and the opening of new accounts will complete the liberalisation of domestic banking transactions, ending controls put in place when talks between Mr Tsipras and Greece’s creditors in 2015 teetered on the brink as the nation entered its third bailout programme. Increased limits for transferring capital abroad for enterprises and individuals, will also facilitate business activity.
A series of tools to fund small and medium-sized businesses in combination with other entities, such as the European Investment Bank and the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development, will be set up to support the economy, along with a Greek plan for a Hellenic Development Bank (HDB).
The HDB will help in the financing of SMEs and startups, cooperatives and social enterprises as well as public entities. It will not focus on retail banking but may act as a wholesale intermediary for commercial banks, private investors and other financial intermediaries.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
THE SPECS
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine
Power: 420kW
Torque: 780Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh1,350,000
On sale: Available for preorder now
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League, last-16. first leg
Atletico Madrid v Juventus, midnight (Thursday), BeIN Sports
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
Changing visa rules
For decades the UAE has granted two and three year visas to foreign workers, tied to their current employer. Now that's changing.
Last year, the UAE cabinet also approved providing 10-year visas to foreigners with investments in the UAE of at least Dh10 million, if non-real estate assets account for at least 60 per cent of the total. Investors can bring their spouses and children into the country.
It also approved five-year residency to owners of UAE real estate worth at least 5 million dirhams.
The government also said that leading academics, medical doctors, scientists, engineers and star students would be eligible for similar long-term visas, without the need for financial investments in the country.
The first batch - 20 finalists for the Mohammed bin Rashid Medal for Scientific Distinction.- were awarded in January and more are expected to follow.
Temple numbers
Expected completion: 2022
Height: 24 meters
Ground floor banquet hall: 370 square metres to accommodate about 750 people
Ground floor multipurpose hall: 92 square metres for up to 200 people
First floor main Prayer Hall: 465 square metres to hold 1,500 people at a time
First floor terrace areas: 2,30 square metres
Temple will be spread over 6,900 square metres
Structure includes two basements, ground and first floor
SHALASH%20THE%20IRAQI
%3Cp%3EAuthor%3A%20Shalash%3Cbr%3ETranslator%3A%20Luke%20Leafgren%3Cbr%3EPages%3A%20352%3Cbr%3EPublisher%3A%20And%20Other%20Stories%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
How it works
Each player begins with one of the great empires of history, from Julius Caesar's Rome to Ramses of Egypt, spread over Europe and the Middle East.
Round by round, the player expands their empire. The more land they have, the more money they can take from their coffers for each go.
As unruled land and soldiers are acquired, players must feed them. When a player comes up against land held by another army, they can choose to battle for supremacy.
A dice-based battle system is used and players can get the edge on their enemy with by deploying a renowned hero on the battlefield.
Players that lose battles and land will find their coffers dwindle and troops go hungry. The end goal? Global domination of course.
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
