Non-systemic banks could play a role in Greece’s development, Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos said at an event of the Foundation for Economic & Industrial Research (IOBE) on Monday.
The finance minister said that these banks’ role had not been sufficiently examined in the past, and cited as examples the role cooperative banks and a development bank could play.
Tsakalotos placed emphasis on the efforts to improve Greece’s economic conditions and noted the key role banks played in managing NPLs, adding that a permanent solution will require time.
In terms of bank deposits, he said they were a result of growth, not a condition for it, especially in a country like Greece that has been in recession for years. What is necessary, he noted, is that investments and development improve so that deposits rise. He also revealed that in the new model for Greece’s development that the government will present, large investments in specific sectors will be linked to smaller businesses, contrary to what was happening until recently.
