The annual growth rate of total credit to the Greek economy remained at 3.5% in August 2026, unchanged from July. Overall bank lending was still negative, at €38 million, but this marked a partial recovery from the sharply negative net flow of €3.89 billion recorded the previous month.
The improvement was mainly driven by stronger lending to the private sector. Private-sector credit returned to a net inflow of €478 million, following a net outflow of €2.52 billion in July. However, the annual rate of decline in private-sector credit accelerated to 2.4%, compared with 2% previously.
At the same time, credit to the general government also showed a partial recovery, with the net outflow narrowing to €516 million from €1.37 billion in the previous month. In contrast to the private sector, annual growth in credit to the general government picked up, rising to 7.1% from 6.7%.
