Keravnos meets Herodotou to discuss banking system

Finance Minister Makis Keravnos met on Friday with Central Bank Governor Constantinos Herodotou to discuss issues in the banking system, a day after he had met with the heads of the island’s banks.

Speaking after his meeting with Herodotou, Keravnos said he had conveyed to the banks, the “messages we receive from the economy and society”.

The minister said that there was an ongoing effort all over the world, and in Cyprus as, to differentiate interest rate policies, at the discretion of the banks, as neither government entities cannot intervene.

Asked if the heads of the banks received this message during the meeting he had with them, Keravnos said that the approach of the heads of the banks was positive and understanding.

When asked to say whether he was worried about the creation of a new wave of non-performing loans, Herodotou said that the central bank was looking at scenarios due to both the increase in interest rates and inflation and the CBC was, from a supervisory point of view, in constant contact with the banks.

Keravnos said that he was also briefed by Herodotou. He said that institutions like the central bank and the finance ministry must exchange views, discuss constructively, and productively for the betterment of the economy and society.