Final act uncertain for banks at heart of Greek drama

摘要

Greek banks won some breathing space after the ECB yet again hiked the ceiling on its emergency funding on Wednesday, but the removal of that lifeline could spell disaster for a sector that is already gasping for air. Debt from the country's banking system has had a torrid time in the secondary market in recent months, and has been dragged down even further this week as hopes of an agreement between Greece and its creditors fade. The yield on National Bank of Greece's €750m April 2019s has spiked from 17.6% to 24.5% in the last six days while Piraeus' €500m March 2017s are yielding 45.5%, up from 28.7%. Meanwhile, their cash prices have plummeted around 40 points since last summer, when they were both bid above par. The Greek banking system has become heavily reliant on the ECB's Emergency Liquidity Assistance (ELA) since it started to use it in February.