Greek banks show strong capital base
The main capital index for Greek banks in the first quarter of the year stood above the eurozone average, according to Supervisory Banking Statistics issued by the European Central Bank, although Greek banks have proportionately the worst readings in liquidity and nonperforming loans.
The Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) index for the country’s four systemic banks came to 14.88 percent in January-March, against an average level of 14,34 percent for 114 significant banks in the eurozone, which was marginally lower than the October-December 2018 level of 14.39 percent. The lowest CET1 reading was seen among Spanish lenders (11.77 percent), followed by Portuguese and the Italian banks, and the highest belongs to Estonian lenders.
The average NPL index stood at 3.67 percent in the eurozone, while Greek banks had by far the highest at 41.41 percent with Cypriot lenders a distant second at 20.31 percent.
The Liquidity Coverage Ratio in the eurozone reached 149.71 percent, from 145.78 percent in the previous quarter, but Greek banks had the lowest reading at just 74.07 percent.
