Yannis Stournaras

Europe should ease state aid rules and protect bank deposits to shore up lenders struggling under the weight of the coronavirus pandemic, European Central Bank policymaker Yannis Stournaras said in an opinion piece on Friday. 

Bank of Greece Governor Yannis Stournaras reiterated on Tuesday that the country's public debt remains sustainable until at least 2030, despite its increase as a ratio to the gross domestic product.

Bank of Greece Governor Yannis Stournaras on Monday stressed the need to seek and activate instruments such as a bad bank, as the so-called Hercules Asset Protection Scheme (HAPS) is considered insufficient, while he also recommended taking recourse to the credit line of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM).

Greece's central banker said on Monday he will advise the government to make use of the cheap, long-term credit lines that will be made available by the Pandemic Crisis Support fund of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM).

Bank of Greece Governor Yannis Stournaras expects the country's economy to contract by 6% of gross domestic product this year as a result of the coronavirus crisis, but this could be followed by a rebound of 5.5% in 2021, he told a committee in Parliament on Monday.

A legal wrangle over the European Central Bank's bond-purchasing program will help focus minds on the need for closer European integration, Greek central bank chief Yannis Stournaras said on Tuesday.

The Greek government has proposed the reappointment of Yannis Stournaras as governor of the Bank of Greece, the country's central bank, a government spokesman said on Tuesday.

Bank of Greece Governor Yannis Stournaras will be participating in a public online debate on Tuesday on a recent decision by Germany's top administrative court on the European Central Bank's bond-buying scheme.

The Finance Ministry's estimates about the impact of the coronavirus on the Greek economy this year are at the optimistic end of the range of projections expressed to date and near those of the Bank of Greece, according to the Stability Program Athens submitted to the European Commission last Thursday.

The Greek economy will shrink much less than "extreme" scenarios projecting a 10 percent or more contraction in gross domestic product (GDP) this year, the head of the country's central bank said on Tuesday.