Both new applications and debt arrangements through the out-of-court debt settlement mechanism recorded a significant increase in September compared to the same month in 2023. More specifically, new debtor requests to the out-of-court mechanism amounted to 5,522, and a total of 1,504 new arrangements were made for debts exceeding EUR 383 million. This is an increase of 52.2% in new applications from 3,628 in September 2023 and 75.7% in new debt arrangements compared to 856 in the same period last year.
A total of 23,713 successful arrangements for initial debts of €7.9 billion settled through the out-of-court mechanism by the end of September are recorded, up significantly from the 8,804 successful arrangements for initial debts of €3.26 billion by the end of September 2023.
HIGH RATE OF APPROVAL
It should be noted that 47.3% of the settlements to financial institutions received a haircut, based on debts exceeding 30%, with the total amount of the write-off amounting to EUR 2.43 billion. The approval of applications by financial institutions is at a high average rate of 71.1%.
At the same time, data are published on the bilateral arrangements made in August, amounting to €150 million for 2,608 debtors and corresponding to the largest loan management companies. The slight decrease in these indicators is due to the fact that during the month of August the flow of procedures for the parties involved is suspended.
DATA FROM BANK OF GREECE
The most recent official data released by the Bank of Greece, which shows that the non-performing loans of Greek banks (on an individual basis) decreased to EUR 10.43 billion in the second quarter of 2024 from EUR 11.10 billion in the first quarter, also reflect the positive trend in private debt in the banking sector. Moreover, the same data show a decline in the NPL ratio at Greek banks, closing the second quarter of 2024 at 6.9% from 7.5% in the first quarter. It is noted that NPLs in the financial sector as a whole (banks and servicers) have shown a remarkable decline over the last 5 years, falling from €92.2 billion in 2019 to €69.9 billion in June 2024.
