NPL growth in 2017 forces banks to forgive more of them
Greek banks will pick up the pace of bad-loan write-offs in a bid to stay on course to meet their NPL reduction targets as, according to bank sources, nonperforming loans have grown by 2 billion euros since the start of the year.
The uncertainty resulting from the delays in the bailout review reversed the drop in NPLs observed in late 2016, so they started increasing again in January and February, and after a decline in March they were up again in April.
The strategy of writing off more bad loans can only be temporary, as the banks’ business plans dictate that the reduction must rely mainly on debt collection and loan sales to third parties.
