2024-04-17 08:42:40
The economic and business potential of Epirus was highlighted by the CEO of Piraeus Bank, Christos Megalou, speaking on Thursday at an event in Ioannina, which was attended by customers of the bank from the wider region.
The reference of the CEO of Piraeus to the digital and innovative ecosystem that has been created in recent years in the capital of Epirus was special, stressing that it is not just a coincidence that Piraeus chose Ioannina to create, in collaboration with the local company Natech , its digital bank Snappi, with the aim of offering modern banking services and attracting younger generations, who avoid the traditional banking system.
Mr. Megalou, in his speech, appeared optimistic about the course of the Greek economy in the coming years, while for Piraeus Bank he said that it will continue financing Greek businesses in a dynamic way. As he pointed out, in 2023 the net credit expansion of Piraeus Bank reached 1.7 billion euros, which was the highest in the Greek market and that the ratio of loans to deposits is 60% and the goal is to reach 80%.
The event was prefaced by the Head of Corporate and Business Banking of Piraeus, Theodoros Tzouros, who pointed out that the Bank is at the forefront of financing Greek entrepreneurship, with total financing in the business sector amounting to 9.5 billion euros in 2023. Referring to the Recovery and Resilience Fund, he noted that Piraeus has signed a total of 1 billion euros in agreements, offering low-interest loans to 440 companies, of which 220 are small and medium-sized. Specifically for the region of Epirus, Mr. Tzouros stated that Piraeus has outstanding loans to businesses in the region amounting to 500 million euros, mainly in the agri-food, processing and hospitality sectors.
The assessment for the gradual de-escalation of ECB interest rates from the summer, so that in 2025 they balance in the region of 2.5% and lower, was expressed from the stage of the event by the chief economist of Piraeus Bank Ilias Lekkos. In a presentation on the course and prospects of the Greek economy, he said that in the decade 2023-2032 the country can attract investments of 370 billion euros, which, he said, had also happened in the past in the decade before the outbreak of the economic crisis. crisis. He also mentioned as an extremely encouraging element the rise of Greek exports in recent years, which currently stands at 50% of GDP compared to just 15% of GDP a few years ago.
Manos Drosatakis, CEO of IOLCUS Investments, a member of the Piraeus Bank group, referred to the investment strategies and perspectives of both the domestic and international markets during his presentation on investment strategies. He called them attractive
valuations of the shares of the Greek Stock Exchange, as, despite the outperformance in 2023, they fall short of the European average. For this assessment, he pointed out that the Greek economy is expected to register a growth of 1.5%-2% in 2024, which, although not an impressive rate, is multiple times that of the Eurozone, as well as the fact that we are entering a phase of de-escalation of interest rates . He also noted that the expected upgrading of the Greek market from emerging to developed in the next two years is working in the same direction, as the Greek stock market is constantly meeting more and more criteria for inclusion in the mature markets.