ATHENS — The issuance of a senior green bond by National Bank of Greece is credit positive for the bank, Moody's said in a report on Thursday. In an announcement, Moody's said the green bond will improve the bank's liquidity and pave the way for similar issues in the future to cover minimum required eligible liabilities (MREL) to implement the bank's strategy on the green economy.

The credit rating agency expects other Greek banks to follow with similar issues of green bonds and said that green bond issues grew 74 pct in 2019 in Europe compared with the previous year, totaling 104 billion euros. "Despite the relatively high cost of the bond based on EU standards and the very low or negative interest rates currently in Europe, the issue reflects an improving funding profile and increasing deposits in the bank."