The Deputy Governor of the Bank of Greece participated in the 10th Delphi Economic Forum
10/04/2025 - Press Releases
The Deputy Governor of the Bank of Greece, Christina Papaconstantinou, participated in the 10th Delphi Economic Forum (Delphi Economic Forum X), which is taking place from April 9 to 12, 2025.
Ms. Papaconstantinou had a conversation with Mr. Korbinian Ibel, Director-General of the Single Supervisory Mechanism (DG Universal & Diversified Institutions, European Central Bank), on the resilience of European and Greek banks amid increasing geopolitical risks.
“In the current context, uncertainty has stopped being something exceptional. Therefore, the guidelines given from a supervisory perspective on the resilience of banks are becoming more pertinent,” said Ms. Papaconstantinou.
In his speech, Mr. Ibel explained that, since the establishment of the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) 10 years ago, the resilience of European banks has strengthened and capital, liquidity, profitability, and asset quality improved, despite the challenges from the macro-outlook and the succession of exogenous shocks in the past years.
Ms. Papaconstantinou and Mr. Ibel agreed that Greek banks have shown an impressive turnaround especially concerning the sizeable reduction of Non-Performing Loans (NPLs) and the increase in profitability.
Mr. Ibel presented the key elements which ensure the resilience of banks to geopolitical risks: adequate capital reserves, thorough clean-up of legacy assets, satisfactory profitability, and high operational resilience.
Referring to the need for “more Europe”, including through the completion of the Banking Union and the Capital Markets Union, Ms. Papaconstantinou emphasized: “The progress made in the European and Greek banking systems is the result of joint effort, and the single supervision of European banks can serve as a positive example for other areas.”
Finally, both speakers agreed that strengthening the common supervisory culture is critical for aligning the supervisory approach between the relevant authorities, enabling effective supervision.