December 14, 2019

The bank capital requirements for Greek banks when lending to its government, should be the same as when lending to Greek entrepreneurs.

Sir, Kerin Hope reports: “Christos Staikouras, the finance minister, told the Greek parliament the Hercules scheme would boost the stability of the country’s financial system and open the way for increased lending to fund the real economy”

In my opinion removing non-performing loans do not guarantee increased lending to fund the real economy. For that to happen the bank capital requirements for holding Greek public debt should be the same as when lending to the real economy. As is, all it will do is to allow banks to easier continue funding the Greek government, all in accordance with that implied Basel Committee principle that government bureaucrats know better what to do with bank credit they’re not personally responsible for, than for instance Greek entrepreneurs.

For having assigned Greece’s government a zero risk weight, even though Greece cannot print euros on its own, if I were a Greek citizen, I would try to haul the European Commission in front of the International Court of Justice. That caused and still causes the excessive borrowing by Greek governments not especially known for resisting temptations, something which has mortgaged the future of all Greek grandchildren.


@PerKurowski