Last, but not least, the valuation of assets held by the banks increased considerably. Most prominently, as it has already been said, Greek government bonds exhibited an outstanding performance throughout 2019, with the 10-year bond yield reaching the historical low of 1.56% at the end of August.
Positive sentiment has also been reflected in the Athens Stock Exchange price index, which briefly rose above 900, the highest since March 2015, before correcting to 868 at the end of August, an increase close to 45% in 2019. The sustained progress in the liquidity conditions was a contributing factor to the recent abolition of capital controls.