Greek banks’ ELA dependence falls further
Emergency central bank funding to Greek lenders dropped by 3.34 billion euros, or 25 percent, in April compared to the previous month, Bank of Greece data showed on Thursday.
Emergency funding, which is more costly than borrowing from the European Central Bank, dropped to 10.21 billion euros from 13.55 billion euros at the end of March, the data showed.
Greek banks have relied on emergency liquidity assistance (ELA) drawn from the central bank since February 2015 after being cut off from the ECB’s funding window due to stalled bailout talks between the government and its official creditors.
Their dependence on the ELA emergency lifeline has declined markedly since June 2016 when the European Central Bank reinstated banks’ access to its cheap funding operations.
[Reuters]