Bank of Greece (BoG) governor George Provopoulos said on January 16. "Forecasts that the recession will end in 2014 are well-founded, provided that there is no political polarization ahead of the European elections," Provopoulos told the Parliamentary Committee on Economic Affairs.

He also attributed a rise in non-performing loans, which have surpassed 30% of total loans, to the last years' unprecedented recession and the PSI, "which cut €41-42 billion from banks and almost wiped out their capital," as opposed to banks’ strategies. He said that in his view, the unemployment rate was set to decrease, the drop in consumption to slow down, external demand growing partly thanks to tourism, corporate investment increasing and privatizations accelerating. He warned, however, against political instability that could be generated by the European and local elections in May.