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POLITICS
Greece faces new national elections as early as 25 June, despite the ruling party securing around 40% of the vote in Sunday’s (May 21) general election. With over 99% of the votes counted, the ruling New Democracy party had 40.79% of the ballots and 146 seats, five short of a majority. Left-wing Syriza won 20.07% of the vote and 71 seats, while Pasok came in third at 11.46%. Turnout was reported at 61%.
ECONOMY
-Greek banking groups benefit from their activity abroad as some 8.6% of their profitability came last year from abroad, where profits before taxes stood at €380 million out of a total of €4.5 billion, which was the profitability of the entire banking system in Greece in 2022, data included in the Financial Stability Report of the Bank of Greece showed.
-Greece posted a 5.2-billion-euro drop in the current and capital account deficit in the first quarter of 2023 y-o-y, according to a Bank of Greece report.
-The Greek housing market is showing a deficit of over 10,000 residences, as supply is unable to meet demand for both the purchase and rental of quality properties, Greek daily Kathimerini reported.
CAPITAL MARKET
The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed up 6.09% on Monday (May 22), a 9-year high thanks to the election result on Sunday (May 21).
