The government has introduced a legislative act forcing public bodies to transfer their available funds to the Bank of Greece, which retroactively comes into effect from the 17th of March.

It should be noted that pension funds are exempt from the act, which limits the funds that could be used. Indicatively, ETAA has about 700 million euros available, but may only optionally invest in repos.

The practice of transferring the available funds of public bodies to a central bank account is encountered in countries such as the Netherlands and Great Britain, in order to better manage available funds.

As expected, there have been major reactions to this development, with the central unions of municipalities and districts (KEDE and ENPE) holding a meeting to discuss how they will respond this development, as it jeopardizes fiscal planning.