No QE till September, say bankers
Senior bank officials hail the provisional agreement between the government and its creditors as a major step toward the normalization of the economy and the credit system but estimate it will take more time for the country to join the European Central Bank’s quantitative easing (QE) program.
They note that the agreement brings an end to a long period of uncertainty, which has had serious consequences on deposits and bad loans, while opening the way for an in-depth discussion on the debt issue, which in turn is the passport for Greece’s entry into the QE program.
The deal will be followed by six weeks of intense talks that will likely lead to the determination of medium-term measures. However, QE will probably have to wait until after the German elections in September.
ECB chief Mario Draghi has made it clear that political statements or general references to measures will not suffice for Greece to join the program; rather, legal commitments are required, to be ratified by the parliaments of eurozone member-states. Only then will the ECB rubber-stamp the sustainability of the Greek debt, which is a necessary condition for entering the QE program. Most analysts consider it unlikely that any such measures will clear the German parliament before the election.
