the government is perfectly aware of this. It
knows that not all NPLs are the same, and is also
aware that this legislation has to be passed, since
it is one of the provisions of the second review of
the third bailout programme.
As a matter of fact, a draft of this legislation has,
reportedly, already been sent for pre-approval to
Brussels. Even if it was actually rejected for being
too generic, thus leading the whole process to a
standstill, it can still provide the basis for a nego-
tiation and this is encouraging. And this is how,
when the time comes, business activity will be
rekindled in Greece. This is how Greece will man-
age to avoid the horrors of a new recapitalisation
of its financial system.
Whatever is to be done, however, is expected to be
done soon. And this because the capital drawn
through the previous recapitalisations, is on the
brink of a “managed” depletion, which may, in turn,
lead to a new, also “managed”, recapitalisation.
The market is already rife with rumours of a
“recapitalisation that, this time, will be limited, and
will not exceed 10 billion euros.” Reportedly this
new capitalisation exercise will not concern all
systemic banks – only some of them.
Obviously, this is a long-term prospect. Insiders
claim that the need for a new recapitalisation will
not emerge earlier than the beginning of 2018. It
should be reminded that a few months later the
same banks will have to pass the ECB’s strict
stress test, having already reduced their non-per-
forming loans by 10%.
And this begs the question: Aren’t too many diffi-
cult obligations piling up for next year? A year that
may
de facto
prove to be crucial for the future of
the entire Greek s economy? That said, if 2018 is
crucial, 2017 is indeed a watershed year.
Because whatever has to be done, in order to
prepare the system properly for effectively deal-
ing with next year’s challenges, has to be done
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