ATHENS — Greek banks had drained 39 billion euros in liquidity from the Eurosystem by the end of September, and around 26.6 billion euros since the outbreak of the pandemic and the emergency measures taken by the European Central Bank in March, which included acceptance of Greek bonds as collateral in refinancing operations.

According to figures by the Bank of Greece, Greek banks borrowing from ECB was 38.9 billion euros at the end of September from 12.3 billion in March and 9.0 billion in early 2020. At the same time, Greek banks' liquidity was boosted by an increase in deposiits.

In the first nine months of the year, deposits by Greek enterprises and households grew by around 5.0 billion euros to 119.9 billion, from 114.9 billion in early 2020. However, banks have held this liquidity, with net loans offered so far this year totaling 4.2 billion euros. The central bank figures also showed that net flows in housing loans were negative in the eight-month period, while net flows in consumer loans also remained negative in the same period.

The ECB is distributing this extra liquidity to avoid a credit crisis in the Eurozone and a larger scale of economic recession.