The Greek banking system has the ability and will of further enhancement of healthy entrepreneurship in all sectors and for all businessfrom the smallest to the largest, supporting growth with one of the highest credit rates in the eurozone, as stated in today’s (29.9.2025) announcement of the Hellenic Bank Association (EET) On the occasion of the working lunch with representatives of the BSE Bureau, SETE and UAE.
As stated in a relevant announcement, in the context of EET’s cooperation with the representatives of the business community, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of EET Gikas Chardouvelis and the members of the Board of Directors of the Union today gave a working lunch to representatives of the Association of Businesses and Industries (BSE).
EET’s initiative, as noted, highlights the strategic choice of the maximum possible mobilization and cooperation of all productive bodies and social partners, assisting the efforts of the State and the Business Community to enhance competitiveness, extroversion, investment and employment, for Greek economics.
The bodies were represented by the Chairman of the Executive Committee and Vice President of the Board of Directors of the Board of Directors, the Vice President of the Board of Directors of the Board of Directors of Eftichis Vassilakis and Agapi Smokou, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Association of Insurance Companies of Greece and Alexander the Great.
The working lunch was attended by Eurobank CEO Fokion Karavia, National Bank Pavlos Mylonas, Alpha Bank Vasilis Psaltis, Credia Bank Eleni Brettou, Optima Bank Dimitris Kyparissis, Citibank Emilios Kyriakou and Viva. Piraeus was represented by Executive General Manager, Chief Corporate & Investment Banking Theodoros Tzouros. Also involved, Acting General Manager of EET Haroula Apalagaki, Union officials and EET Coordinating Committees.
As recognized in the debate, close cooperation between the banking system, productive bodies and social partners is a catalyst for consolidating a sustainable transformation of the Greek economy, especially when the international environment is characterized by complex and changing challenges.
During the work lunch, detailed issues of common interest in banks, industry, tourism and the private insurance industry were discussed with a focus on the available financial tools, infrastructure, sustainable and green development projects, innovation, development of development-institutional reforms.
The Greek banking system has the capacity and will of further enhancement of healthy entrepreneurship in all sectors and for all businesses, from the smallest to the largest, supporting growth with one of the highest credit expansion rates in the eurozone.
As announced, the latest data from the Bank of Greece (BoG) and the European Central Bank (ECB) for August 2025 show an annual rate of credit expansion of 16.1% (total funding of non -financial companies) for 3% of the eurozone. Indeed, the rate of credit expansion to non -financial enterprises in Greece is consistently higher than the average eurozone over the last three years.
In the eight months of January – August 2025, all business loan disbursements from the Greek banking system, according to EET data, exceeded 20 billion euros. These funds are all the new loan disbursements from domestic banks, including the bank loans of the recovery and resilience fund and the disposal of funds from financial institutions