Greek bank deposits shrink in December
Greek private sector bank deposits registered a drop in December after rising in the two previous months, central bank data showed on Friday, with the fall attributed to statistical counting changes.
Business and household deposits fell by 3.42 billion euros, or 2.7 percent month-on-month, to 121.38 billion euros, their lowest level since July 2003.
They had increased by 170 million euros to 124.8 billion in November.
Starting in December last year, the Bank of Greece stopped counting deposits of 4.2 billion euros held in the Loans & Consignment Fund and another 2.1 billion euros in the Deposit Guarantee Fund (TEKE) as private sector deposits.
Its move followed a reclassification by the country’s statistics service ELSTAT, which groups the two institutions under the general government sector.
Greek banks have seen small deposit inflows in more than a year after the country clinched a third bailout to stay in the eurozone.
They remain dependent on central bank borrowing to plug their funding gaps.
[Reuters]
