Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 14-09-26

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

CONTENTS

[01] Economic recovery needs bank credit, BoG governor says

[02] Wages in Greece down 1.35 pct on average in Q2‏

[01] Economic recovery needs bank credit, BoG governor says

Addressing a conference in Slovenia, the Greek central banker said that an economic recovery without bank credit would not offer the maximum results as history has shown that in such a case economic recovery was on average weaker than if bank credit was accompanied.

Stournaras stressed that creation of a banking union would restore confidence in the banking sector and noted that the results of a pan-European stress test would play a vital role in improving confidence in the banking sector. A Banking Union will also contribute in reducing a fragmentation of financial markets, he noted.

"The sooner banks restructure their balance sheets, the easier they will regain confidence among private investors, attracting new capital and offer credit to the economy," the Greek central banker said, while he presented a series of measures aimed to develop Europe's securitised loan market.

[02] Wages in Greece down 1.35 pct on average in Q2‏

Wages in Greece (excluding seasonal correction) continue falling for the last four years (by an average 5.05 pct in 2011, 7.4 pct in 2012, 6.55 pct in 2013 and 1.35 pct in the first half of 2014).

The biggest percentage increases in wages were recorded in Estonia (7.7 pct in the first quarter and 7.4 pct in the second quarter), Latvia (7.4 pct and 6.9 pct), Slovakia (3.5 pct and 6.1 pct), Romania (5.3 pct and 5.0 pct) and Hungary (3.1 pct and 4.9 pct). In Germany, wages grew by 1.3 pct in the first quarter and by 1.6 pct in the second.

In Greece, the wages index fell by 1.4 pct in the second quarter of 2014, compared with the corresponding period last year, after a 7.4 pct decline recorded in the 2013-2012 period. Seasonally-adjusted, the wages index fell by 1.0 pct in the second quarter, after a 9.1 pct decline recorded in the second quarter of 2013.

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