The European Central Bank put an official end to the extension of the waiver of Greek bonds, which permitted the Eurosystem to used Greek bonds as collateral for loans. The decision will take effect on August 21 when the bailout programme expires.

“The Governing Council decided that as from 21 August 2018, that the traded securities issued or guaranteed fully by the Hellenic Republic will subject to the Eurosystem’s common criteria and minimum credit rating limits and the said securities will be subject to common haircut assessments set out in the Guideline (EU) 2016/65 of the European Central Bank,” the decision states.

According to bank sources,  the pledges that collateral returned to the banks can potentially be placed in the repos market and the liquidity that could be raised is expected to be higher as the ECB made them acceptable with a high haircut.