Greece's Ministry of National Economy and Finance urges banks to reclaim a pre-crisis financing role for SMEs and new national champions

Greece's Ministry of National Economy and Finance published the text of Minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis’ speech to the annual general meeting of the Hellenic Bank Association, calling on the banking sector to move beyond post-crisis caution and reassert a leading role in funding the real economy. He framed banks as a lever for strengthening small and medium-sized business activity at the local level while also supporting the emergence of new “national champions”, linking this to social cohesion and reversing brain drain into “brain gain”. The Minister acknowledged public dissatisfaction with banks’ day-to-day presence, noting that some professionals, entrepreneurs and citizens perceive it as distant, impersonal or insufficient. He pointed to the sector’s pre-crisis contribution to financing public and private investment, including support for SME investment plans, and argued that the current recovery in banks’ footing should be used to build on that legacy while aiming for further convergence with euro area averages in investment, growth and incomes. On geopolitical risk, he warned that escalation in the Middle East and a potential resurgence of trade tensions could weigh on global growth and spill over into the euro area, while arguing that the resilience of Greek banks and a favourable domestic environment with continued high growth in 2025 can act as a buffer against adverse external scenarios.