'Mystery' solved... maybe.
Bloomberg is reporting that excess liquidity within Greek banks - who leant it to their credit-risky peers at notably high rates - are responsible for the sudden, scary spike in EONIA over the last two days, according to two bankers with knowledge of the matter.
Salaries that were deposited by Greek civil servants and higher receipts from repurchase agreements provided National Bank of Greece with more liquidity, the person said, asking not to be named because the matter is not public.
National Bank of Greece SA had excess liquidity of around 450 million euros ($536 million) this week, which it loaned to its peers in the country, the people said.
Other Greek banks found the rate offered by National Bank of Greece appealing, thus drawing on the cash, the people said.
While the flood of funds and the increase in interbank lending in Greece is good news, the rates at which borrowers from the country can access funds are still higher than for the rest of the continent, thus pushing up the weighted average of the overnight rates in Europe, one of the people said.
Today's fix at 1245ET printed at -29.1bps, 5bps lower than Thursday as 'pressure' seems to be relieving.