ECB Reinstates Greek Waiver in Boost for Nation’s Lenders
- Waiver gives banks access to zero-interest-rate loans
- Lenders have relied on emergency liquidity since Feb. 2015
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The European Central Bank reinstated a waiver on Greek debt, allowing the nation’s banks more access to cheaper refinancing lines but stopping short of including such bonds in quantitative easing for now.
The ECB “decided to reinstate the waiver affecting the eligibility of marketable debt instruments issued or fully guaranteed by the Hellenic Republic,” the institution said in a statement after a Governing Council meeting in Frankfurt on Wednesday. “The decision suspends the application of the minimum credit rating threshold in the collateral eligibility requirements for these instruments,” the ECB said, allowing lenders to pledge junk-rated Greek sovereign notes against regular central bank funding.