Just a small post on the newly released June monthly statement by BoG:

BoG monthly statement June 2015

The large increase in central bank lending to Greek banks is quite evident: BoG loans were used to finance increased banknotes hoarding (+€5bn in a month) and deposit outflows (+€7.5bn). This increase stretched posted collateral which reached close to €200bn. Given that debt securities and credit claims held by Greek banks amount at a bit less than €300bn (with around €18bn being securities in currencies other than the Euro) with a significant part encumbered in various covered bonds and other securities it is obvious that banks were running out of available collateral and capital controls were really around the corner as long as ELA financing needs did not decrease. Obviously the increase in haircuts at the 6th Jule meeting only made matters worse. Based on the above numbers it is clear that it will be extremely difficult to relax capital controls without cash/deposits returning to the Greek banking system.

Another interesting observation is the extremely low figure for the government account which amounted at only €600mn. This reflects the large effort by the Greek government to keep paying official creditors during 2015 and the slow deterioration of state finances due to the ongoing recession. Since ELA was capped before the end of June the above figure suggests that the Greek government was in no position to pay the IMF on 30 June even if it wished to do so (since it could only use funds available at the BoG). Its financial position was extremely stretched and it would have to quickly decide whether to resist creditor demands by issuing IOUs or accepting the terms of a new bailout.

Even if government entities still had funds in bank accounts that could be tapped by the central government, the ELA cap made transferring them to the government account held at BoG close to impossible. These funds might be able to help in domestic payments to government employees and pensioners but would not allow paying (principal and interest on holdings of) foreign debtholders making Grexit very likely in order to avoid a general default on government debt.

One last issue that I don’t see people touching often is the fact that the very large ELA amount will result in significant windfall profits for BoG during 2015 which will be remitted back to the government. Assuming an ELA spread of 150bps over the MRO rate (BoG has to pay the MRO rate on its liabilities towards the Eurosystem), BoG should have already earned an amount close to €450mn in profits (although a part will probably be set aside as provisions). These profits might prove significant for the 2016 state budget execution.