Wed, 9 July
23.1 C
Yerevan
USD: 384.19 RUB: 4.90 EUR: 450.58 GEL: 141.45 GBP: 521.65

Greek banks bid for Crédit Agricole unit

YEREVAN, August 10. /ARKA/. Crédit Agricole received offers Wednesday evening from three Greek banks for selling its local lossmaking subsidiary Emporiki Bank in a signal of disengagement from the country, FT.com reports. National Bank of Greece, Alpha Bank and Eurobank were the banks submitting bids for Emporiki. “Crédit Agricole simply wants to walk out, because it has lost too much money and is not apparently optimistic about the prospects of the banking sector and the country. The French bank would have divested earlier if possible,” said a top Greek banker in one of the banks submitting a bid for Emporiki Bank. Crédit Agricole’s €23bn of Greek loans make the French lender the foreign bank with most at risk should Greece leave the euro. Crédit Agricole’s move comes after another major French company, Carrefour, said in June it was selling its Greek supermarket business to its local partner and leaving the country. In another sign of waning confidence in the country’s prospects, a source close to the government said Crédit Agricole had indicated it wanted to keep an equity stake of less than 10 per cent in the new bank entity to be created from the merger of Emporiki with one of the potential bidders. “This way it does not have to consolidate Emporiki in its financial accounts,” he added. Bankers said Crédit Agricole would have been happy if it held no equity stake at all in the new merged bank entity but speculated it must have been asked by the government to retain a small stake for face-saving purposes. They estimated Crédit Agricole may lose €8bn to €10bn from its investment in Emporiki until the sale process is finalised. The French bank also funds Emporiki with more than €4.5bn, down from more than €11bn a year earlier.—0–

spot_img

POPULAR

Inflation of 3.9% registered in Armenia in June

In the consumer market of Armenia, 12-month inflation in June of this year amounted to 3.9%, according to the report of the National Statistical Committee (NSC) of Armenia.

Moody’s affirms Armenian government ratings at Ba3 with stable outlook

On June 26, 2025, Moody's affirmed the long-term issuer ratings in national and foreign currencies and senior unsecured debt in foreign currency of the Armenian government at Ba3, maintaining the stable outlook, the press service of the Ministry of Finance of Armenia reported.

Net inflow of remittances to Armenia from abroad increased by 13.9% over 5 months

The net inflow of private remittances in Armenia from abroad sent through the  banks in January-May 2025 amounted to $511.7 million, compared to $449.4 million in January-May 2024, according to a report by the Central Bank.

Euro rises by 1.06 points against Armenian dram, while US dollar and ruble fall slightly

The average market exchange rate of the US dollar against the Armenian dram as of July 3, 2025, decreased by 0.05 points compared to July 2 and amounted to 384.46 drams.

Average settlement exchange rate of the dram to the dollar in June was 1% lower than a year ago

In June 2025, the average settlement exchange rate of the Armenian dram to the US dollar was 384.2 drams, which is 1% lower than the same indicator in June 2024 (388.1 drams).

LATEST NEWS

spot_imgspot_imgspot_img