towards deceleration seems to have set in, considering that the increase in 2015 as a whole surpassed €4 billion. bis central bankers ’ speeches despite the size of the problem, the capital base of the banking system remains strong, with the provision coverage ratio standing at 50 %. if one adds to this the value of collateral pledged, total risk coverage comes to 101 %, one of the highest in the eu. recognising the seriousness of the problem, the bank of greece, as early as in 2013, took a number of initiatives, either by conducting studies or by issuing legal acts and regulatory provisions to address npes. following a thorough analysis of the situation ( troubled assets review ), executive committee act no. 42 / 2014 was adopted, establishing a supervisory framework for the management of loans in arrears and non - performing loans, whereby banks are required to report, on a quarterly basis, in the most detailed manner at european level, data on their npes and the actions they have taken for their management, as well as their internal reorganisation for this purpose. a few months later, in the autumn of 2014, the bank of greece introduced a code of conduct for banks for the transparent, effective and, where appropriate, flexible treatment of cooperating borrowers facing difficulties in servicing their debt obligations. the code ensures that borrowers are provided with timely and comprehensive information and are protected against unfair treatment by creditors, and is geared towards promoting permanent and sustainable arrangements, whether forbearance or resolution and closure solutions. the bank of greece has worked closely with the relevant ministries on the preparation of legislation enabling the effective tackling of npes, such as law 4307 / 2014 ( “ corporate insolvency for smes ” ), amendments to law 3869 / 2010 ( “ household insolvency ” ) and, more recently, amendments to law 4354 / 2015 to permit the assignment of the management and the transfer of loan portfolios to specialised non - bank entities. by authority of that law, the bank of greece adopted executive committee acts nos 82 / 2016 and 95 / 2016 detailing the licencing framework for credit servicing firms, striking a balance between speed, transparency, efficiency and borrower protection. last but not least, the bank of greece, jointly with the single supervisory mechanism ( ssm ) of the european central bank, decided to set binding operational targets for all greek banks with a view to ensuring a reduction of npes over a horizon of three years

been made to the united states and the question has been asked as to why europe us unable to effect as strong expansionary measures. many reasons exist that make comparisons with the united states infeasible. firstly, the expansion of the us public deficit is largely due to an increase in military expenses, which can hardly be regarded as counter - cyclical expansionary economic policy. furthermore, there was, and still is, substantially more genuine room for manoeuvre in the us economy in this respect. contrary to the euro area, us public finances were clearly in surplus when the country entered into recession. for demographic reasons alone the outlook for us public finances clearly outweighs that for the euro area. furthermore, the tax rate is markedly lower in the us in comparison to the euro area, which also gives the united states substantially latitude in taxation. finnish economy if the expected recovery of the world economy begins, the finnish economy will, without doubt, follow suit. however, forecasts suggest that the growth rate would only return to a 2 – 3 % level. one trend in which finland has taken the lead in international comparisons is population ageing. the problem of ageing is not exclusive to finland, but it has started to manifest itself here exceptionally early. in effect, the increase in labour growth in finland has virtually come to a halt and is expected to make a downwards turn in the near future. this will inevitably be reflected in all sectors of the finnish economic policy decision - making. in the next few decades, population ageing will pressure finland into increasing spending on its public sector, amounting altogether to some 6 % of the gdp. the funds accumulated in the pension scheme cover only one third of these upward pressures. can the remainder be met with increases in taxation? i doubt it. in fact, there is increased pressure to reduce taxes further in the future. another easily distinguishable future trend is tightening competition over the location of companies. finnish companies are increasingly a part of a global business world with operations in finland. in such a world the relocation of operations to places where costs can be kept to a minimum becomes the norm. a small, expensive, rapidly ageing and remote country is hardly in the best possible position when an international company is contemplating where to locate operations. labour mobility is gradually changing from a theoretical possibility into a reality that shapes economic policy. what kind of prospects does finland have for succeeding in international competition? political stability and security, a reliable legal system, a still solid infrastructure