Increase in deposits by 5 billion euros, but also loans to enterprises by 2.9 billion euros occurred in December, which led to an increase in deposits of enterprises and households in banks at 188.7 billion euros, but the loan balance is 115.5 billion euros.

Household deposit growth was strong, rising by 3.2 billion euros in December from the previous month to reach 141.3 billion euros at the end of 2022, according to data from the Bank of Greece. The strong growth in December is largely due to the 13th salary paid to the private sector and OPEKEPE payments, which are paid out en masse at the end of the year. Overall, household deposits increased by €6.6 billion in 2022, driven by an overall increase in disposable income created by the country’s development and government income support policies. For businesses, the increase in bank liquidity was about 1.8 billion euros in December, bringing total deposits to 47.4 billion euros, which is the result of banks strengthening credit lines to cover the increased operating costs of the enterprise.

In 2022, the total amount of household deposits increases by 6.6 billion euros.

In terms of funding, the lending boom, with a €2.9 billion increase in net inflow of corporate finance in just one month, is also due to the activation of the Recovery and Resilience Fund (RESF), as well as the acceleration of year-end approvals that banks traditionally do in the context of year-end closings. It should be noted that 2.9 billion euros arise after deducting the repayment of existing debts that the companies generated, while in total the net flow of financing that existed in 2022 is 7.9 billion euros. A consequence of the strong increase in financing is that the annual rate of net lending to enterprises rose to 12.3% from 10.4% in November, while for the economy as a whole it was 6.3% due to a reduction in loans directed to households.

It is significant that in relation to the rate of the Recovery Fund, according to data recently published by the Ministry of Economy, by the end of 2022, 68 loan agreements were concluded with an investment project budget of 3.22 billion euros. Of these, €1.2bn is loans from the Recovery Fund, €1.28bn is from commercial banks, and the remaining €741m is investor equity, with TAA arrangements estimated to reach €10bn.

The big patient remains the home loan where, despite a timid recovery in new loans, with new disbursements estimated at €1.2 billion for all of 2022, it remains in negative territory with a funding rate of -3.6% and total balances of 29.7 billion euros. . Consumer credit finally strengthened at 1.2%, with the balance of consumer loans at the end of 2022 amounting to 8.7 billion euros.