The BSP remains steadfast in its efforts to help clean up banks' balance sheets to stimulate lending activity. So far, we have seen the non-performing loan (NPL) ratio of universal and commercial banks drop from a high of 17.4% in 2001….to 8.5% in December 2005…. and further to 7.43% last September.
The unprecedented fiscal consolidation that followed, contributed to the magnification of the initial economic shocks, resulting in a cumulative real GDP decline of over 25%, historic high (postwar) unemployment levels and a substantial drop in gross disposable income. In a nutshell, one could say that, at a national level, the Greek crisis has been more severe than the Great Depression.