Greek Bank Deposits Fell 2% in November After October Plunge
Greek bank deposits by businesses and households fell 2 percent in November as the then Premier George Papandreou announced and then ditched a referendum on international aid, putting the country’s euro-area membership into question.
Deposits dropped to 172.9 billion euros ($220.9 billion) in November from 176.4 billion euros the previous month, according to a statement released by the Bank of Greece on its website today. Deposits have declined 36.7 billion euros, or 18 percent, since December 2010.
Bank of Greece (TELL) Governor George Provopoulos said on Nov. 29 that the deposit flight continued early in November after Papandreou called and then dropped plans for a referendum on the terms of an Oct. 26 second aid package for the country. Deposits stabilized after Lucas Papademos, a former vice president of the European Central Bank, replaced Papandreou on Nov. 11, he said.
“The figure certainly showed an improvement compared to September-October respective figures, however in absolute terms it is still large,” Panagiotis Kladis, an analyst at Athens- based National Securities, said in an e-mailed note.
The 3.5 billion-euro monthly drop in November was smaller than the 6.8 billion-euro decline in October, which was the biggest since Greece joined the euro area.
“The trend seems to be improving following the appointment of the new coalition government which resulted in a stabilization in confidence,” Kladis said.
Greek bank reliance on European Central Bank liquidity declined to 73.4 billion euros in November from 74.3 billion euros the previous month, according to a separate statement from the Greek central bank today. Reliance on Emergency Liquidity Assistance, which is extended by the Athens-based central bank, stood at 42.9 billion euros, according to Bloomberg calculations.
To contact the reporters on this story: Natalie Weeks in Athens at nweeks2@bloomberg.net; Christos Ziotis in Athens at cziotis@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jerrold Colten at jcolten@bloomberg.net
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