Finance Minister Christos Staikouras gave banks 10 days to “immediately and boldly” raise interest rates on deposits and lower interest rates on new loans.
The minister called the 4.86% interest rate on new loans in October “unacceptable”. Speaking on Saturday Skai TV, he said that “the average interest rate on new deposits is stable at 0.05%. The average interest rate on new loans increased by 0.26% in October and now stands at 4.86%,” adding that this is unacceptable. “They should immediately and significantly raise deposit rates and lower the interest rate on new loans.” He stressed that, in addition to the four systemically important banks, there are banking institutions with a higher interest rate on deposits.
According to the minister, the second very important chapter concerns banking commissions. “Banks take large sums from Greek citizens and they do not pay them as much as they should. I asked them to review the commission for 12 specific services within 10 days,” he said. Staikouras also clarified that with regard to the extrajudicial mechanism (seizure of property of debtors) has made significant progress.
The minister did not say what measures and whether they will be taken if the banks do not put forward satisfactory proposals at a meeting with Staikouras in ten days. The leader of the main opposition party SYRIZA, Alexis Tsipras, has proposed additional taxes on banks.
PS After almost four years in power, New Democracy and the Ministry of Finance found that bank fees in Greece were too high and pretended to be “annoyed.” It’s about the elections and the neo-liberal ND is trying to show its “social” profile.
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