Greek Prime Minister Assures Banking System Secure, Deposits Safe Despite 'Banking Storm'

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Thursday that clients of Greek banks have no reason to worry despite the global "banking storm," reassuring them their deposits are protected

BRUSSELS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 23rd March, 2023) Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Thursday that clients of Greek banks have no reason to worry despite the global "banking storm," reassuring them their deposits are protected.

"I want to underline the progress we have made in recent years, our banks are strong and in front of the global financial storm that unfolded in recent weeks I want to reassure once again all Greek depositors, that the Greek banking system is strong and their deposits are protected," Mitsotakis said, while arriving for the European Council meeting in Brussels.

The global financial system has been reeling as the United States got caught up in a banking crisis that began with a federal takeover of two commercial banks, Silicon Valley and Signature.

Since then, the banking industry has rallied to bail out a third bank, First Republic. A fourth bank, PacWest Bancorp, was reported to be in trouble on Wednesday after a 20% run on its customer deposits, requiring a cash infusion of $1.4 billion to keep it afloat.

All the institutions faced rapid and massive withdrawals of deposits by customers fearing for their money's safety.

A study by a group of private economists has concluded that 186 US banks may have troubled finances that have not been reported, suggesting the banking crisis may be bigger than was thought.

The crisis also took on an international dimension after renowned Swiss investment banking Credit Suisse went under last week and had to be bought by rival UBS.