Economy of Greece

The Greek stock market benchmark came off a 12-week high on Tuesday to post minimal losses, in what was a mixed session that saw banks return to price growth and the majority of stocks heading lower, while turnover remained at Monday's high levels.

The European Commission sees Greece's economic growth at 2.4% in 2023 and 2.2% until 2025, above the eurozone and EU average, in its fall economic forecasts released on Wednesday, pointing out that this growth is supported by the implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Plan and a resilient labor market.

Stocks soared on Tuesday at Athinon Avenue, with traders shifting most of their attention to banks, which saw their index jump by almost 6% driven by the huge interest in the public offering of National Bank.

The already very important performance recorded by Greece internationally in terms of debt-to-GDP ratio reduction will continue over the next seven years, as Moody's estimates, thanks to the strong growth of the Greek economy, the very favorable public debt profile, as well as the very good management strategy.

Greece's economy is expected to expand by 2.5% this year due to strong domestic demand, investments and EU funds, the International Monetary Fund said on Tuesday.

Growth will slow down to 2.0% next year, the fund said in staff concluding statement.

[Reuters]

The stocks of Greek banks sent turnover at the local bourse soaring on Monday, as they accounted for about 90% of the nearly 400 million euros traded at Athinon Avenue on the day, helped by the divestment of the Hellenic Financial Stability Fund from Alpha and National. Prices varied, with winners edging out the losers by the smallest of margins.

Lidl Hellas has invested more than 1.4 billion euros in Greece since 1999 and the company's investment plan will continue in the coming years.

Lidl Hellas CEO Martin Brandenburger said late on Thursday that the investment program for the next three years (2024-2026) includes new stores and total investments of over €120 million for the store network and warehouses.

The decline of the benchmark at Athinon Avenue continued on Friday for a fourth day in a row, only this time at an accelerated pace and with twice as many stocks declining as those that reported growth. The main index was down by as much as 1.55% at one point during the session, exercising some damage limitation toward the end.

For the third day in a row the benchmark of the Greek stock market closed with losses that affected half the board's stocks. However, on Thursday the turnover was significantly increased compared to previous days. Banks led the decline, with the exception of National Bank, while corporate results continued to dictate the moves of investors.

Wednesday's session at the Greek stock market was a mirror image of the day before, as the main index again posted small losses, while mid-caps outperformed and winning stocks were level with those that declined for a second day in a row.