Chapter 185: The Business of 300 Million Drachma

Kavasha Street, Athens, Athens Stock Exchange.

After the opening bell rang, the trading hall suddenly became noisy, and the sound of voices rose in the hall.

Kolodis, Kapodistrias and Amansperg beside him stood at the main entrance of the trading hall, observing this grand occasion:

The trader surrounded by people buying stocks kept writing the latest stock prices on the blackboard behind him with chalk.

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

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

At this moment, a trader in the crowd shouted excitedly: "Tesla Power Company, the latest share price is 14 drachmas"

The crowd shouted: "Great, it's up again"

"Tesla Power Group's stock is really popular. Since its listing, it seems to have been the company with the highest market value on the Athens Stock Exchange." Amansperg, a shareholder of Alpha Bank, shrugged.

Colledis looked at the number on the blackboard representing Tesla's stock changing to 5, and explained: "Tesla Power Group has passed the initial development stage and entered a stable profit period. The annual dividend is very stable. I heard that last year's dividend per share was 3 drachmas. It is engaged in a heavy asset industry. Those thermal and hydropower stations are visible and tangible, which makes investors more assured. It is also a rare high-tech company on the Athens Stock Exchange. It has a mature AC system. How can such a stock not be sought after?"

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

Kolodis 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 talked to him for a few words. According to him, Tesla seems to be able to produce steam turbines independently. This is a project that Tesla Group has invested heavily in. It is said to be an important equipment for power stations and can also be used as a power source for ships."

Capodistrias suddenly realized: "No wonder Tesla Power Group's stock has been rising all the way. This is good news."

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

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

"It seems that Tesla Power Group will still hold the title of the company with the highest market value on the Athens Stock Exchange. The market value of Philip Pharmaceuticals, which ranks second in market value, seems to be only 200 million. The gap is really big," said Amansegpe 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 morphine supplier in Greece and produces various health and medical equipment.

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

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

Therefore, he is dissatisfied with the fact that Philip Pharmaceuticals' market value always ranks second.

Koledis raised his left wrist, pulled up his sleeves, glanced at the watch on his hand, and said: "It's already 9 o'clock, it's almost time to keep the appointment, let's go"

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

When the three of them sat down and the carriage drove to the Prime Minister's residence, Amansegpe was a little unsure: "Tell me, will the Prime Minister and the Crown Prince agree to what we are planning?"

Capodistrias, who closed his eyes and rested, vowed: "Why not? This is beneficial to both sides, isn't it?"

After hearing that the government and the navy and army reached a resolution to expand the army by 500 million to 400 million drachmas, the three major banks in Greece keenly noticed a business. The amount of funds required for this business was huge, and the three major banks in Greece could not take it alone, so they decided to unite and make this deal with the government together.

The carriage stopped in front of the Prime Minister's residence, and the three people entered the reception room under the guidance of the servants.

Constantine and Prime Minister Alexandros received the three people together.

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

"I heard that you are going to do a business with the government. What is it?" Constantine asked the three people sitting on the sofa opposite.

The three looked at each other and nodded. Then, Kolodis, who was familiar with Constantine, explained his purpose. After all, the Royal Bank of Greece was backed by the royal family, and Constantine personally appointed Kolodis as the general manager of the Royal Bank.

"Your Highness, Your Highness, Prime Minister, in the previous government's military expansion agreement, the government will spend about 400 million on the army in the next few years, and the Greek government still has more than 300 million drachmas of British and French foreign debts to repay. In the next few years, the government's financial pressure will be very large, right?" Kolodis 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 risk is 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.