The findings of the independent study by the Foundation for Economic & Industrial Research (IOBE) on the economic footprint of the Hellenic Development Bank's (HDB) programs for businesses during the period 2019-2025 were presented today, Thursday, 1 October 2026, at an HDB event titled:
- “Financing with impact: People • Jobs • Growth”.
The event took place in the presence of the Deputy Minister of National Economy and Finance, Nikos Papathanasis, whose portfolio includes the Hellenic Development Bank. The course of the Bank was presented by HDB CEO, Ismini Papakyrillou, while the findings of the study were presented by IOBE Director General, Nikos Vettas.
In his remarks, Mr. Papathanasis referred to the official data proving the measurable result of the development-oriented economic policy with a social focus and fiscal targeting that has been pursued since 2019, emphasizing the fact that Greece maintains growth rates more than double the European average, increases investments, reduces taxes, with the result that the dividend of growth passes on to society and unemployment has fallen close to the historic lows of recent decades.
At the same time, he underlined the fact that the country, despite the claims made within and outside Greece, managed to complete on time all the milestones and targets of the Recovery and Resilience Facility, resulting in €36 billion being absorbed, corresponding to 16% of Greek GDP, for the benefit of society and the economy.
The Deputy Minister referred to the developmental role of HDB, stressing that to date loans amounting to nearly €13 billion have been granted to 46,000 businesses. He also highlighted the fact that 77% of beneficiaries have annual turnover of up to €2 million and 72% up to 10 employees, while, through guarantee programs, the perimeter of businesses gaining access to banking institutions is continuously expanding. “The Hellenic Development Bank will continue to support small and medium-sized entrepreneurship, with even more resources secured from the Recovery Fund and expected to mobilize loans amounting to 5 billion euros, while at the same time contributing to addressing major contemporary issues, such as housing. The challenge of the next four years is the further increase of disposable income and the improvement of our fellow citizens’ daily lives. And in this direction, we are accelerating the work and the reforms, with the aim of creating the Greece of 2030”, Mr. Papathanasis stressed.
HDB CEO, Ismini Papakyrillou, stated: “The IOBE study documents the success and developmental targeting of HDB’s actions. The public resources used in HDB’s financial instruments yield multiple returns through the leverage of private capital, return and finance the real economy again. The economic and social footprint is, above all, the very small and small businesses that withstood the crisis, invested and supported jobs throughout the country. HDB now operates as a central development mechanism of the Greek economy. With the new resources entrusted to us by the State, we are creating even more opportunities for SME financing”.
The main findings of the study
The study, prepared by IOBE using the input-output model (Leontief), assesses the cumulative impact on the Greek economy of HDB’s programs for businesses, with a total loan value of €11.5 billion, in three areas: economy, green transition and credit market.
The central finding: for every €1 of resources committed to HDB’s financial instruments, €3.58 of GDP is generated. The same €1 corresponds to €2.10 in employee income and €1.43 in public revenue, while every €1 million of committed resources corresponds to 110 annual jobs.
Cumulatively, during the period 2019-2025, HDB’s programs and the total investments of the beneficiary businesses contributed to:
- €12.5 billion total impact on GDP (direct, indirect and induced)
- 600 annual full-time jobs
- €7.3 billion employee income
- €5 billion public revenue.
The impact comes mainly from small and medium-sized entrepreneurship. 78% of the loans were directed to small and medium-sized enterprises.
56% of the impact on GDP and 60% of the impact on employment come from very small and small businesses. 1/3 of the impact on employment comes exclusively from very small businesses, with turnover of up to €2 million.
At sector level, 74% of the loans (€8.6 billion) were directed to trade, manufacturing and the accommodation and food service sector. Geographically, 61% of the impact on GDP comes from beneficiaries in Attica and Central Macedonia, while the multiplier effects were higher in regions such as the South Aegean, the Ionian Islands and Crete.
The strongest annual impact was recorded in 2020, with the pandemic response tools. In 2025, the impact of disbursements on employment is estimated at 23,500 annual full-time jobs, the highest of the last four years.
In the field of the green transition, HDB financing shows a lower weighted average carbon intensity (WACI index) than the rest of the banking system: 0.36 versus 0.68 in 2024. At the same time, more than 3/4 of business loans were granted to sectors of high importance for the green transition. In the lignite phase-out areas, Kozani and Arcadia, HDB’s participation share is now higher than it was before the pandemic.
In the credit market, HDB’s activity contributed to the credit recovery of the 2020-2025 period, especially in sectors with high involvement by it, such as trade, where its share in total business loan disbursements reached 38%. On average, for every €100 of new credit in the 2020-2025 period, €21 were granted with HDB involvement. HDB’s higher participation is associated with lower business exit rates during the pandemic: an increase in participation by 10 percentage points is associated with a reduction in the exit rate by 0.4 percentage points.
IOBE Director General, Nikos Vettas, noted: “The study assesses, using the input-output model, the footprint of HDB’s programs for businesses during the period 2019-2025. For every €1 committed by HDB, total investments create €3.58 of GDP, €2.10 in employee income and €1.43 in public revenue. The cumulative impact is estimated at €12.5 billion on GDP and 383,600 annual jobs, with 56% of the impact on GDP coming from very small and small businesses. The analysis also shows that HDB’s activity contributed to the credit recovery, that its higher involvement is associated with lower business exit rates during the pandemic, and that its loans have lower carbon intensity compared with the other banks. Overall, HDB contributed during the period of successive crises to the resilience of Greek businesses, with a green orientation, while a critical opportunity for the future will be the further contribution to financing a business model guided by innovation and extroversion”.
HDB’s course
The usefulness of financial instruments lies in the multiplication and recycling of resources. Unlike grants, resources are not spent once: they are leveraged with bank capital and, as loans are repaid and guarantees are released, returns from previous instruments are recycled into new programs for businesses.
From 2019 to mid-September 2026, HDB approved financing of €15.57 billion to businesses and households, through 89,214 loans. The 61,596 business loans, amounting to €12.99 billion, reached 46,025 businesses, of which 77% have turnover of up to €2 million and 72% employ up to 10 workers.
After the pandemic, HDB was transformed from an emergency tool into a permanent development mechanism. It expanded its products (TEPIX III, Microcredits, Innovation Guarantee Funds and HDB-TMEDE, Just Development Transition Fund, Agricultural Entrepreneurship Fund), entered housing policy with the “My Home I” and “My Home II” programs, and completed the European Commission’s Pillar Assessment.
The next step, as announced by the Prime Minister at the TIF, is the utilization of €1.5 billion in new resources that will be leveraged into €5 billion in financing for small and medium-sized enterprises, with activation by the beginning of 2027, as well as the new “My Home III” program, amounting to €2 billion.
The study “The economic footprint of the Hellenic Development Bank: Programs for businesses 2019-2025” was prepared by an IOBE research team coordinated by Giorgos Gatopoulos and edited by Nikos Vettas.
The study is posted on the IOBE website: https://iobe.gr/dev-extro/οικονομικό-αποτύπωμα-ελληνική-αναπτ/