TITLE:
An Evaluation of the Greek Banking System over the Period 2009-2019
AUTHORS:
Anastasios Magoutas, Panos Chountalas, Dimitris Manolopoulos, Nikolaos Gelardos
KEYWORDS:
Greek Banks, Financial Crisis, Panel Data
JOURNAL NAME:
Theoretical Economics Letters,
Vol.12 No.1,
January
21,
2022
ABSTRACT: With the proliferation of banking distress issues
over the last years, empirical literature on systemic banking crises has grown
substantially. Yet, studies assessing the antecedents of banking systems’
structure within EU peripheral economies are less developed. Here, we use data
from 2009 to 2019 and employ annual financial statements of Greece’s four
systemic banks, to assess the country’s banking system. Our analysis is based
on two panel data econometric models using ten bank-specific business process
performance indicators and four macroeconomic variables. Our findings indicate
that the causes of the Greek banking system’s collapse can be divided into
three categories. The first two include macroeconomic and bank-specific
factors, whereas the third category suggests
other factors related to the long-lasting financial crisis. Evidence
recorded highlights that the main cause of the Greek banking crisis was the
accumulated deficits and imbalances of the economy which caused initially a
debt crisis followed by a banking crisis. However, the exact causes of the problem seem to be more intricate and have
their roots in perennial structural distortions of the Greek economy.