One in four loans remain in arrears

The increased hardship of individuals and businesses to meet their banking obligations is recorded by the interim report of Bank of Greece, according to which the evolution in the quality of loan portfolios of banks deteriorates monthly.

One in four consumer credits, including credit cards are unpaid. Delays in repayments are rising and the outlook remains bleak for the upcoming year.

In the first half of 2011, NPLs increased by 6bn in total, in all types of loans. Collectively, these bad debts from businesses and households for the January-June period exceeded 32bn euros even though banks formed additional provisions amounting 3 bn.

Based on data from the Bank of Greece, loans in arrears are more than three months, represent 13% of the total loan portfolio in the Greek banking system, up by 2.5 % from 10.5% in December 2010.

On top of that problematic loans include consumer loans, 24% of which are in arrears.

An alarming increase is also noted in delays of mortgage loans, 12% of which amounts to 9.5 bn, are not paid on time.

2011 is also the first year in which a dramatic deterioration in the business sector is recorded, where 3bn worth of loans changes category from performing, to in arrears, increasing the amount of bad corporate loans at 13.6 billion euros in late June.