For the euro area, the last few years have been especially turbulent. The sovereign debt situation in some euro area Member States is at the heart of concerns about financial and economic stability in the euro area. The sovereign debt crisis pointed to an imperfect implementation of economic – but clearly not monetary – governance in the euro area.
The non-performing exposure (NPE) ratio of Greek banks is very high – 49% in June 2016. Reducing it is a key precondition for gradually restoring an adequate and efficient supply of credit to the Greek economy, and for achieving sustained growth. Some important legislative reforms in this direction have already been passed.