Politis

Strong Lending Growth in Greek Banks - New Loan Record of €4.3 Billion

Published January 8, 2026, 05:21
Strong Lending Growth in Greek Banks - New Loan Record of €4.3 Billion

Greek banks recorded a record level of new lending in the first eleven months of 2025, reaching a total of €4.3 billion. This represents a 32.2% increase compared to the same period in 2024, when lending amounted to €3.3 billion. The increase is mainly due to the rise in business loans, which jumped by 42.5% to €2.8 billion, while loans to households increased by 16.8% to €1.5 billion. Specifically, business loans exceeding €1 million reached €2.3 billion from €1.5 billion the previous year, and loans below €1 million amounted to €537.2 million from €504.5 million. Mortgage loans increased to €1.2 billion from €991.4 million, consumer loans to €245.3 million from €232.6 million, while other loans saw a slight decrease to €70 million from €76.2 million. Alongside this, loan restructurings have also increased, both for households (€716.1 million from €502.4 million) and businesses (€2.4 billion from €1.8 billion). This increase suggests potential repayment difficulties for some borrowers, despite the overall positive picture of lending. However, a slight slowdown in the pace of new lending was observed in November, with net new loans falling to €256.3 million from €429.4 million in October. This decrease affects all loan categories, including consumer, mortgage, and business loans. Overall, the data indicates that lending is healthy, with an emphasis on borrowers' repayment capacity and a rate of performing loans exceeding 90%.