ECB lowers emergency funding cap for Greek banks to 61.1bn euros

ATHENS: The European Central Bank lowered the cap on emergency liquidity assistance (ELA) Greek banks draw from the domestic central bank by 7.0 billion euros to 61.1 billion euros ($69.2 billion) effective from June 30, the Bank of Greece said on Thursday.

The move reflected improving liquidity conditions in Greece's banking sector, stabilising private sector deposit flows and the reinstatement of the waiver by the ECB which restores banks' access to its cheap funding, the central bank said.

Greek banks have relied on emergency liquidity assistance (ELA) since February 2015 after being cut off from the ECB's funding window. Emergency funding is more costly than borrowing directly from the ECB.

ELA funding from the Bank of Greece fell by 3.1 percent or 2.07 billion euros in May to 64.81 billion euros.