Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 16-11-22

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From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] First Syrian refugees arrive at new hosting center in Koutsohero; official inauguration on Wednesday

[02] Moody's revises Greek banks' outlook to stable from negative

[03] 64 pct of Greeks want to become businessmen

[01] First Syrian refugees arrive at new hosting center in Koutsohero; official inauguration on Wednesday

The new hosting center for refugees will be officially inaugurated on Wednesday by Alternate Defence Minister Dimitris Vitsas.

The final number of refugees (from Syria exclusively) expected to be housed in the new center is estimated to reach 1,500.

Members of the Greek Red Cross and the UAE Red Crescent will attend the inauguration ceremony.

[02] Moody's revises Greek banks' outlook to stable from negative

"We expect banks in Greece to return to marginal profitability in 2016-17 on the back of significantly lower loan-loss provisions, decreased funding costs and contained operating expenses," said Nondas Nicolaides, Vice President -- Senior Credit Officer at Moody's and author of the report.

Greek banks have been able to regain access to the inter-bank repo market, reducing their emergency liquidity assistance (ELA) balances and improving their funding and liquidity profiles. However, Moody's noted that they are likely to remain highly reliant on central bank funding over the outlook period.

Banks in Greece will also continue to face significant challenges in tackling their huge stock of problem loans. Moody's expects the volume of non-performing exposures (NPEs) to remain high at more than 40 pct of total lending by year-end 2017 from around 45 pct in June 2016.

In addition, despite a modest pick-up in growth, economic activity, consumption and new investments are likely to be limited, constraining banks' loan and revenue growth, in Moody's view. The rating agency's sovereign team expects real GDP growth in Greece of 1.8 pct in 2017, up from a forecasted zero rate for full-year 2016.

Furthermore, while capital ratios are sound -- the rating agency estimates Greek banks' weighted-average common equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio at around 17 pct as of June 2016, which comfortably meets regulatory requirements -- around half is in the form of deferred tax assets (DTAs), which Moody's considers to be lower quality capital. This is due to the fact that their eligibility to be converted into deferred tax credits (DTCs) and ultimately into tangible assets, is contingent on the Greek government's creditworthiness that is currently weak as indicated by the sovereign rating of Caa3 (stable).

Finally, Moody's does not expect banks in Greece to benefit from any government support going forward. The government has limited financial strength and its heavy reliance on official creditors' funding displays its minimal capacity to support the banking sector, according to the rating agency.

[03] 64 pct of Greeks want to become businessmen

The survey, conducted in cooperation with the Tech University of Munich, records public trends on entrepreneurship throughout Europe, including Greece. Compared with 2015, Greek respondents were less positive towards entrepreneurship (64 pct) in 2016 from 69 pct last year.

A 63 pct of Greek resondents said they wanted to become businessmen, a 36 pct said they were convinced they had the abilities to set up a business, while a 55 pct said they would not abandon their intention to set up an enterprise even if their families or friends tried to convinced them otherwise.

Ioana Enache, managing director of Amway in Greece, Bulgaria and Romania, said: "Amway always supported business activity in Greece, since 1996, and celebrates 20 years of presence in the Greek market. The results of this survey make it clear that entrepreneurship was deeply rooted in Greeks philosophy, with more Greeks wanting to start their own business compared with the European average (46 pct compared with 35 pct, respectively)".

A 48 pct of Greeks said they felt at ease with starting their own business, while a 49 pct said they felt discomfort, with respondents in younger ages (below 35 years) recording the higher percentage rates (60 pct) compared with other age groups (35-49: 49 pct and over 50 years: 35 pct).

Greek also felt more comfortable with being their own boss (42 pct), while prospects for a secondary income (33 pct) was also an attractive prospect.

Amway said a 35 pct of European citizens saw self-employment as more likely in the next five years.

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