Moody’s: BoG plan ‘credit positive’
Moody’s views the Bank of Greece plan to manage nonperforming loans as a credit positive development for the country’s lenders. The rating agency said in a report on Thursday that the plan will also improve the quality of banks’ asset portfolios thanks to the reduction in the rate of deferred tax credits. However, it warned that the transfer price of the nonperforming exposures is a crucial point for the plan’s success.
According to the chart presented by the agency, all four systemic banks (Alpha, Eurobank, National and Piraeus) will benefit from the plan for the creation of a special purpose vehicle, along with Attica Bank and Pancreta Cooperative.
Moody’s pointed out that the plan targets the significant reduction of NPEs to below 10 percent – from over 40 percent today – within the next three years. June data put NPEs at about 89 billion euros or 48 percent of total loans, the agency reported. This rate has also been affected by the lack of new loan issues in recent years and deleveraging by banks.
Although banks’ NPEs have met the reduction targets agreed with the European Central Bank’s Single Supervisory Mechanism, the Bank of Greece acknowledged the need for drastic action so as to release bank resources to finance the economy, Moody’s highlighted.
