Credit Provision Strategy during Financial Crisis Using Bank Accounting Data

This paper examines the changes in credit provision for the Greek Banking Sector before and during the financial crisis. Also, it investigates the impact of specific loan characteristics in shaping the overall interest rate of new and existing business loans. A data set with monthly accounting data of Greek Banks for the period January 2003 to June 2011 is utilized, thus incorporating the crisis effects. The study findings reveal the beginning of the credit crunch at the third quarter of 2009. As far as new loans are concerned, it was found that large loans are priced less than the small ones. Moreover, the results show the greater and positive contribution of small loans to the derivation of the total lending interest rate. Furthermore, it is found that the bargaining power of large borrowers during the crisis causes a negative impact of large loans on the total interest rate. Finally, it is shown that in the existing loan portfolio, the crisis significantly reduces the effect of short-term loans, while simultaneously intensifies the positive effect of medium and long-term loans. The findings have important managerial implications for bank managers and policymakers.