Greece to roman road

Kawarsha Street, Athens, Athens Stock Exchange.

After the opening bell rang, the trading hall suddenly became noisy, and the sounds of one after another emerged in the hall.

Coredis and the two people beside him, Kapodistrias and Amensperger, stood at the main entrance of the trading hall, observing this grand scene:

The traders, surrounded by people buying stocks, kept writing the latest stock prices with chalk on the blackboard behind them.

"There are so many people buying stocks now. I don't know how long the stock market will be strong this time," said Coledis, general manager of the Royal Bank of Greece, with emotion.

"The economy has been relatively prosperous recently, so it is no wonder that there will be a bull market," Kapodistrias, director of the National Bank of Greece, said casually.

At this moment, I heard a trader in the crowd shouting excitedly: "Tesla Electric Power Company, the latest stock price is 14 drachmas."

The onlookers shouted: "Okay, it's gone up again."

"Tesla Power Group's shares are really popular. Since its listing, it seems to have been the company with the highest market capitalization on the Athens Stock Exchange." Alfa Bank shareholder Aman Sperger shrugged.

Coredis looked at the number representing Tesla's stock on the blackboard changing to 5, and explained: "Tesla Power Group has passed the initial development stage and entered a stable profit period. The annual dividends are very stable. I heard that the dividend per share last year was 3 drachmas, and we are engaged in a heavy-asset industry. Those thermal and hydropower stations are all visible and tangible, which further reassures investors. It is also rare among the Athens Stock Exchange. A high-tech company with a mature alternating current system in its hands, how could such a stock not be sought after?"

"But now the stock price of Tesla Power Group has reached 14 drachma, with a total market value of 200 million drachma. This is a bit too exaggerated," Amans Gebe said incredulously.

Coredis thought for a moment and responded: "When I went to the University of Athens for recruitment a few days ago, I met Tesla himself and chatted with him for a few words. According to him, Tesla seems to be able to produce steam turbines independently. , this is a key project invested by Tesla Group. It is said to be an important equipment of the power station and can also be used as the power of the ship."

Kapodistrias suddenly said: "It's no wonder that Tesla Power Group's stock has been rising all the way. This is good news."

Royal Bank of Greece, National Bank of Greece and Alfa Bank are currently the three largest banks in Greece and stand at the top of the Greek financial system.

The relationship between the three banks is very delicate. They are both competitors and comrades working hand in hand.

"It seems that the title of the company with the highest market capitalization on the Athens Stock Exchange is still firmly held by Tesla Electric Power Group. Philip Pharmaceuticals, which is second in market capitalization, seems to have a market capitalization of only 200 million. The gap is really big," Amansgober said regretfully. .

As the largest pharmaceutical company in Greece, Philip Pharmaceuticals' flagship product, artemisinin, has always been a best-seller. In addition, it is also the largest supplier of morphine in Greece and also produces various health and medical equipment.

In Greece, the company occupies 60% of the medical and health products market and returns huge profits to investors every year. Amansgeber has always been optimistic about the market prospects of Philip Pharmaceuticals and has purchased the company's shares from the market for many years.

So far, the market value of the shares of Philip Pharmaceuticals in his hands has reached 1.2 million drachmas.

Therefore, it is dissatisfying that Philip Pharmaceuticals' market capitalization is always ranked second.

Coredis raised his left wrist, pulled up his sleeve, glanced at the watch on his hand, and said, "It's already 9 o'clock. It's almost time to go to the appointment. Let's go."

After saying that, he turned around and walked out of the exchange, entering the carriage waiting on the roadside.

When the three of them were seated and the carriage drove to the Prime Minister's residence, Ahmans Gebe felt a little unsure: "Tell me, will the Prime Minister and the Crown Prince agree to what we are planning?"

Kapodistrias, who closed his eyes and rested his mind, said firmly: "Why don't you agree? This will be beneficial to both parties, isn't it?"

After hearing that the government and the navy and army had reached a military expansion resolution of 500 million to 400 million drachmas, Greece's three major banks were keenly aware of a business that required a huge amount of funds. It was impossible to eat it alone, so the three companies decided to join forces and make this deal with the government.

The carriage stopped in front of the Prime Minister's residence, and the three of them entered the reception room under the leadership of the servant.

Constantine, together with Prime Minister Alexandros, received the three persons.

After greetings, the servants served tea and cakes, and everyone sat on the sofa.

"I heard that you are going to make a deal with the government. What exactly is it?" Constantine looked at the three people sitting on the sofa opposite and asked.

The three of them looked at each other and nodded. Coredis, who was familiar with Constantine, explained the purpose of his visit. After all, the royal family was behind the Royal Bank of Greece. Coredis' position as general manager of the Royal Bank was still Constantine's. Personally appointed.

"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, Your Excellency the Prime Minister, in the previous government's military expansion agreement, the government will spend about 400 million on the military in the next few years. However, the Greek government still has more than 300 million drachma of British and French foreign debts that need to be repaid. In the next few years The financial pressure on the government will be very high for a period of time, right?" Kolledis said.

Whether it is the government's military expansion or Greece's foreign debt, it is not a secret. Of course, even if it is a secret, it can be found out based on the power of the three major banks in Greece's political and business circles.

Constantine nodded and said: "That's right."

Upon hearing this, Coredis said loudly: "Today we are here to negotiate a business deal with the government on behalf of the three major banks."

After hearing this, Prime Minister Alexandros said politely: "What business?"

"Our three major banks will raise money to repay this foreign debt for the government, converting Greece's foreign debt into domestic debt. From now on, the Greek government will repay its debt directly to our three major banks," Koredis explained.

When Constantine heard what he said, he vaguely guessed the purpose of the three major banks, but the old Prime Minister Alexandros, who was not sensitive to finance, was confused by this: "What's the point of this?"

Coredis saw that the Prime Minister did not understand the purpose of their move, and explained: "In fact, the Greek government issued a national debt to repay foreign debt, and our three major banks purchased the national debt."

"In the next few years, the government will be under great financial pressure. The Greek government is unable to repay the principal of this foreign debt and can only repay the interest on the loan every year."

Alexandros nodded, acknowledging these words.

"Compared with the foreign debt, it is calculated based on 300 million, and the interest is 7%. That is to say, 21 million drachmas must be repaid every year to British and French creditors. But we are different. The Greek government issues government bonds to us. Ours The interest is only 5%, which is 15 million drachmas. For the government, it can save 6 million drachmas every year." Coredis carefully and patiently explained to the two people the benefits of reaching this deal to the government.

"Moreover, this eliminates the need to withdraw 21 million from the Greek domestic market every year and give it to Britain and France. For the Greek economy, it will help ensure the stability of the currency quantity in the domestic market, which is also a good thing."

"Our three major banks have purchased treasury bonds, and the interest rate is 5%. It is a good investment. Although the profit is not high, the risk is low."

Constantine and Alexandros looked at each other, and it was true that the interest rates on the foreign debts that Greece borrowed from Britain and France were higher, while the interest rates on the national debts were lower.

In this way, converting foreign debt into national debt will be profitable for the government.

"That's a debt of 300 million drachmas. Do you have that much money? Even though you are one of the three major banks in Greece and have strong financial resources, you still need sufficient liquidity." Constantine frowned and said in a tone of voice. There was a hint of questioning.

These are the three largest banks in Greece. If there is any disturbance, Greece's financial order will collapse.

Amansgeber stood up and said to Constantine: "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince can rest assured that the finances of our three major banks are very healthy and the liquidity is sufficient, which is enough to absorb this 300 million drachma national debt."

"Greece's economy has developed rapidly in recent years, and people have a lot of money in their hands. The amount of savings in our three major banks has hit new highs. We are worried about finding suitable investment channels. After all, we need to pay interest to depositors. This is why we are worried about finding suitable investment channels." Thinking of buying government bonds, the profits are stable and the risks are low, so it is very suitable for large-scale investment.”

Constantine frowned and nodded to understand that the capital of the three major banks could absorb 300 million in foreign debt in one go, which surprised Constantine.

However, both the three major banks and the Greek government will indeed benefit from this transaction, and there is no reason not to support it.

After Constantine and Prime Minister Alexandros discussed the specific steps with the three, they agreed to the plan to convert foreign debt into national debt proposed by the three major banks.