Interest rates at domestic lenders are still falling

Interest rates on deposits are continuing to fall at commercial Greek banks despite the credit sector’s cash flow problems. Bank of Greece data showed yesterday that the average interest rate in December came to 1.82 percent, against 1.88 percent in November and 2.61 percent in early 2014.

In January 2015 banks have proceeded to a fresh interest rate reduction for fixed-term deposits that ranged between 1.60 and 1.70 percent, although this is still a far cry from the eurozone average of 0.98 percent.

Greece is second only to Cyprus, which had an average fixed-term interest rate of 2.63 percent in December, while France had 1.49 percent and Germany 0.35 percent.

The average interest rate for corporate loans rose by eight basis points to 6.48 percent in December.