ECB chief Lagarde in Athens for gov. council meeting; interview on Mega prime-time newscast cites Greek econ resurgence

European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde arrived in Athens on Wednesday for a two-day working visit on the occasion of its governing council meeting in the Greek capital – a development that would have been unheard of several years ago during the height of the economic and political crisis plaguing the country.

Bank of Greece (BoG) Gov. Yannis will host the meeting of Eurozone members’ central bankers, along with Lagarde and the six members of the ECB’s executive committee.

The closely watched meeting is expected to focus on the Eurozone central bank’s short-term monetary policy.

While usually convening at the ECB headquarters in Frankfurt, one such meeting is annually held in a member-state’s central bank.

For the Bank of Greece (BoG), the development marks the third time that the ECB governing council convenes in Athens, after 2005 and 2008.

In a related development, an interview with Lagarde – an “old hand” of the Greek bailout crises of the past decade while serving as IMF managing director until 2019 – will be broadcast on Wednesday’s prime-time newscast of Athens-based Mega Channel.

Lagarde reportedly refers the impressive turnaround achieved over the past years by the Greek economy and state finances.

She also touches on improved figures for the country’s national debt, turbulence in global bond markets, and even on the wide spread recorded between savings and borrowing interest rates offered by domestic banks.

Finally, Lagarde cites this week’s deal between Greece-based Alpha Bank and Italy’s UniCredit – billed as the first major investment by a foreign credit institution in Greece’s banking sector in 17 years.

According to reports, UniCredit plans to become Alpha Bank’s biggest institutional investor by purchasing a 9-percent stake in the latter. The stake is currently owned by Greece’s banking sector emergency fund, the Hellenic Financial Stability Fund (HFSF).

The Italian lender also agreed to acquire most of Alpha’s Romanian affiliate.