Greek daily news

Greek Daily News 05/07/2024

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ECONOMY

-Major credit rating agency S&P improved the ratings of four Greek systemic banks (National Bank, Alpha Bank, Eurobank, Piraeus Bank) and boutique shipping lender Aegean Baltic Bank (ABBank). National and Eurobank were placed one step before investment grade and, respectively, Alpha Bank and Piraeus two notches below investment grade. Aegean Baltic Bank’s long-term rating was raised to BB- from B+, keeping the short-term rating at B and the outlook positive.

-Ethniki Insurance, Greece’s biggest insurance company, showed losses of 38.4 million euros (€36.1 million at group level) in 2023, a result that was burdened mainly by the damaging effect of the old health portfolio as well as compensation for damage caused by Storm Daniel, Kathimerini reported.

-In May 2024, the weighted average interest rate on new deposits was almost unchanged at 0.55%, while the corresponding rate on loans decreased to 5.54%, according to the Bank of Greece (BoG). The interest rate spread between new deposits and loans fell to 4.99 percentage points.

-Greek household earnings are lower than the average in European Union countries and the gap has widened in recent years, a recent quarterly report by the Center of Planning and Economic Research (KEPE) revealed.

BUSINESS

Greece is witnessing rapid growth in franchise networks. There has been a 3.2% increase in franchise locations, with the total number of sales points rising to 22,689 in 2023, up from 21,983 in 2022, according to the research sample for the “Franchise Panorama 2024.”

TRAVEL

-Greeks who travel abroad prefer to visit Italy (17%), Germany (11%), and France (9%), according to a study titled “How Greeks Travel – Analysis of the Qualitative Characteristics of Travel in Greece and Abroad” conducted by INSETE, the Greek Tourism Confederation’s (SETE) research body. The most popular domestic destinations are Attica and Central Greece – Euboea (21%), Macedonia (19%), and the Peloponnese (14%).