Minister of National Economy and Finance, Kostis Hatzidakis, in his speech in parliament, focused on the significant progress achieved in the reduction of bad loans and the strengthening of tools, such as the out-of-court debt mechanism for the benefit of citizens.
More specifically, he pointed out that non-performing loans in banks and servicers amounted to 92.2 billion euros in 2019 and fell to 69.9 billion in June 2024. “This progress is not about the banks, as some argue, it is primarily about the borrowers. Because the loans also belong to the borrowers and they are the ones who are gradually freed from the burdens,” he underlined.
He also noted that the out-of-court mechanism is now at historically high levels:
- In September 2024, a total of 23,713 successful arrangements for initial debts amounting to 7.9 billion euros were recorded from successful arrangements of initial debts amounting to 3.26 billion euros in September 2023.
- Also, in September 2024 more cases were approved by the out-of-court mechanism (52.2%) compared to September 2023. And compared to September 2022, an increase of 75.7% was recorded.
- Even in August, when rates dropped due to summer, arrangements were made for 2,608 borrowers corresponding to 150 million euros of debts.
