The president of National Bank (NBG), the country’s largest credit institution, on Thursday raised eyebrows by saying that battered Greek banks face four challenges, listing a successful recapitalization as the first, while adding in quick order: “without a haircut of deposits, no matter the level”.

NBG President Louka Katseli, a long-time PASOK minister who left that party during the first memorandum, made the allusion to the specter of “bail in” before immediately saying the second challenge is to “restore depositors’ trust, where the precondition is political stability, but also a consolidation of a climate of trustworthiness and solvency of banks vis-a-vis their clients”.

Katseli is also the chairwoman of the Hellenic Banks’ Association, a position usually filled by the executive who holds state-run NBG’s presidency.

Of course, mentioning the phrase bank deposit “haircuts” in the same breath as “trustworthiness and solvency” could be construed as an oxymoron, especially since capital controls are still in place for Greek bank account holders.

The other two “challenges” faced by Greek banks, according to the Princeton-educated Katseli, who was appointed after a SYRIZA government took over in January, is a more effective measure for non-performing loans, both retail and corporate, as well as funneling liquidity into the “real economy”, i.e. the non-state portion that creates jobs and generates tax revenue.

She spoke at a business luncheon, B2B Business, organized every year by the British-Hellenic Chamber of Commerce.