The government is launching a dynamic intervention in the area of banks in order to contribute to the response to the housing crisis, putting on the table an increase in the rate LIGHT for the real estate which the banks do not use and do not put on the market, as a means of political pressure.
“What has fallen as a proposal on the table is whether the ENFIA rate could be increased as a political pressure on the banks for the properties that are not used and not put on the market”, said the Minister of State and responsible for monitoring of the government project, Akis Skertsos, speaking to SKAI.
“What has happened in the last 5.5 years is that the exposure of the banking system has now been reduced to a very low level thanks to the government’s policies on bad loans, it now moves to 6.5 to 7%. So this means that the banks now have the possibility to fulfill their role of giving loans, to see under what conditions they will now give loans and how many loans they give to businesses and how many to households.
And from there on, to play the role that befits banks for the development of the economy. It is not the case that they do not pay ENFIA. What has fallen as a proposal on the table is whether the ENFIA rate could be increased as a political pressure on the banks for the properties that are not used and not put on the market”.
According to Mr. Schertsos, until 2020 and 2021 the banks were loss-making, as they recorded 6.5 billion. losses and have started along with the rest of the growth that the economy is experiencing and they will record profits. “They have increased lending, but they need to improve lending conditions with more competitive interest rates. They must also improve the terms of interest rates on deposits which have also been increasing in recent years, bank deposits have increased by 45 to 50 billion and they must also give better interest rates to encourage other depositors to put their money into the banking system.” , he noted indicatively.
Confirming international and domestic reports where they spoke of government pressure on the banks to put their approximately 21,000 properties on the market, Mr. Skertsos emphasized that they should also contribute so that families and new couples can have their own home. “We see that the credit extension of banks to businesses has increased, but the credit extension of banks to households to acquire houses remains hopelessly low.
And right now with the growth of the real estate market and the economy in general there is indeed an overheating of real estate prices making rent unaffordable. Therefore, here we need the assistance of both the banking system and the state to help especially young couples, young families and single-member households to get their own house”, underlined the minister.