Dividend of €400.7 million to be transferred Bank of Greece V Greek State from profit recorded in 2022. The Bank of England is an exception to the general rule for losses recorded by central banks internationally in fiscal 2022 due to the effects of the monetary tightening cycle. European Central Banksince it recorded a profit of 456.8 million euros, which allows it to once again distribute dividends to shareholders in the amount of 0.6720 euros per share.

In particular, net profit for the year after a provisioning increase of €132.6m was €456.8m compared to €3.27bn in 2021, which, however, was largely driven by the effect of the provisions of €2.62bn released last year. years by the Bank of Greece.

Total net income was €938.7 million compared to €1.011 billion in the prior year, down 7.2%, and total expenses before provisions were €349.3 million compared to €361.4 million in the previous year. the previous year, which means a decrease. 3.3%. The increase in interest rates, as expected, led to a jump in interest expenses to 1.104 billion euros from 448 million euros in 2022. Spending by all eurozone central banks has risen as the interest they pay commercial banks on their deposits has risen. to 2.5% from -0.5% a few months ago, while the interest they pay on Treasury deposits also increased to 2.5% from -0.5%-0%.

The Bank of England’s earnings were also supported by a €76.4m profit from financial operations, despite a €54m loss caused by lower financial asset and position valuations due to higher bond yields driven by the ECB’s tightening policy. . As reported by “K”, the bank has a large investment portfolio, which contains diversified investment options, which systematically generate significant profits, due to the very careful management of the bank’s risk management and asset management services.

The dividend to be received by the Bank’s shareholders is EUR 0.6720 per share.

The “redistribution of cash income”, amounting to 706 million euros, also supported the bank’s profit. Programs such as APP (“classic” quantitative easing) are part of the ECB’s cash income, which is redistributed among all countries according to the key capital that each of them has. Greece’s key rate is 2.0117%, so the bank’s profitability has increased despite the fact that the country did not participate in the special program due to the lack of investment grade.

As such, the Bank of England will distribute to shareholders a dividend of €0.6720 per share (unchanged from the previous year) and totaling €13.3m, while continuing to increase the emergency reserve by €42.7m and in a transfer of €400.7 million to the Greek state (against the transfer of €499 million in 2021).

Notably, the Bundesbank this week reported a loss in 2022 for the first time since 1979, as the ECB’s interest rate hikes lowered the value of its bonds, and losses were also driven by ultra-cheap loans to commercial banks. The €172m loss was covered by reserves the German central bank built up in previous years, but further losses are likely as interest rates continue to rise, further reducing the value of bonds bought in years when inflation was too low. The losses, of course, mean loss of revenue for the German government, as the Bundesbank paid out nearly €25 billion in dividends in 2010-2019, which it cannot continue to do, unlike the Bank of England.

A few days earlier, the ECB announced a zero profit for 2022, as it completely covered the loss of 1.627 billion euros from financial risk reserves. The ECB’s losses arose mainly from interest expense on the ECB’s net obligations under TARGET2, as well as from write-offs of securities held in the equity and US dollar portfolios due to rising bond yields.

Eurozone central banks are not alone in the world entering an era of losses. Among those who have already posted losses or warned of the possibility of taking losses due to their bond buying programs are the central banks of Australia, Switzerland, Japan, New Zealand, England, Sweden, and the Federal Reserve. In fact, it is estimated that 90% of central banks are expected to record or have already posted losses in fiscal 2022.