Reports: Greek banks ready to freeze rising interest rates at late March 2023 levels; 12-month duration

Greece’s systemic lenders are reportedly ready to freeze interest rates, at late March 2023 levels, on mortgages held by borrowers for properties in the country. The difference from an ongoing relief measure is that the looming initiative will not feature income and property value criteria that have previously excluded the majority of borrowers from benefiting.

Initial reports point to freeze on the Euribor one-month rate, the three-month rate and the basic ECB rate, which mainly determine variable interest rates on mortgages in Greece.

If the reports pan out, the measure means that certain loans will be transformed into fixed-rate contracts, plus the spread foreseen in each loan contract. The same reports point to a 12-month duration of the specific relief measure, assuming that regulatory banking authorities extend approval.

One main criterion to be applied is that only serviced mortgages will be eligible.

The cost of the relief measure will also burden banks, essentially rewarding prime borrowers.

The Euribor one-month at the end of March 2023 reached 2.92 percent; Euribor 3-month reached 3.038 percent, while the ECB’s basic rate was 3.50 percent.