State asked to pay for highway delays

Kentriki Odos, the consortium that has undertaken the reconstruction of parts of the Athens-Thessaloniki National Road in Thessaly, is claiming compensation from the state totaling some 40 million euros, Kathimerini understands. The reason cited is the state’s delays in delivering plots of land for the construction of roads linking the highway with the local road network. The project should have been ready last May and the state is now pushing for it to be delivered by yearend, while hoping the European Commission will not seek the return of funds it has allocated to subsidize the project. rise that paused in September, central bank data showed yesterday, with balances remaining at 14-year lows. Business and household deposits rose to 123.68 billion euros in October from 122.57 billion in September, their lowest level since November 2003. Greek banks have seen small deposit inflows over the space of more than two years after the country clinched a third bailout to stay in the eurozone in July 2015. While they remain dependent on central bank borrowing to plug their funding gaps, banks have reduced their exposure. “In October, deposits of the private sector increased by 1.03 billion euros, compared with a decrease of 47 million in the previous month, while the annual growth rate stood at 4.6 from 4.3 percent, unchanged from the previous month,” the Bank of Greece said.

Piraeus Bank turned loss-making in July-to-September, as higher provisions for impaired loans compared to the previous quarter offset an increase in net interest and commission income, Greece’s largest lender by assets said yesterday. It reported a net loss of 19 million euros after a net profit of 7 million in Q2. (Reuters)