Greece will submit a proposal to join the European Union’s new SAFE financing mechanism.

Macro/Political: 

• Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced that Greece will submit a proposal today to join the European Union’s new SAFE financing mechanism, seeking at least EUR 1.2bn in low-interest loans to strengthen national defence and support its defence industry. Greek PM said Greece intends to make full use of available EU funding tools, including mechanisms that provide fiscal flexibility for defence spending. He stressed that the new resources would support Greece’s 12-year defence armaments program, which includes upgrading equipment and expanding domestic defence production.

• In April 2025, the number of issued building permits in Greece amounted to 2,334 (-17.3% y-o-y). During the period January – April 2025, Total Building Activity (private-public) in Greece recorded a 26.2% decrease in the number of issued building permits compared with the corresponding period of 2024.
  Source: Elstat

Markets:

• In a report S&P said that the Bank of Cyprus’ acquisition of Ethniki Insurance Cyprus Ltd. aligns with its strategy to diversify revenues and strengthen profitability resilience. Ethniki Insurance holds a 3% market share in life insurance and 4% in non-life insurance in Cyprus, making it a valuable addition. The EUR 29.3mn deal is expected to increase the bank’s gross written premiums by 15% and its net insurance result by 10%, boosting non-interest income. Despite this strategic move, S&P expects the bank’s overall profitability to decline due to lower interest rates, with return on average equity projected to drop from 21% in 2024 to around 13% by 2026.