The European Commission on Thursday announced it was extending until December 31, 2014 its support measures for Greek credit institutions, initially approved in November 2008.

These measures include a guarantee status which covers the signing of a new loans and state securities’ status, used as a basis to offer state bonds to selected credit institutions with the aim to strengthen their access to liquidity.

The Commission said that these measures were compatible with its directives on state support offered to banks during the crisis and stressed that these measures were focused and limited over their duration and targets.