The improved prospects for the domestic economy have bolstered the economic climate and led to an increase in bank deposits, to upgrades of the credit ratings of the Greek sovereign and to successive reductions in Greek banks’ dependence on Emergency Liquidity Assistance (ELA).
These better prospects also resulted in sovereign bond yields falling to January 2016 levels, thereby allowing the Greek government to return to the markets in July 2017 for the first time in three years. Corporate bond yields also fell and Greek banks returned to international financial markets with covered bond issues.