The government and the central bank have called on lenders to explore tie-ups and form stronger entities to better cope with the country's debt crisis and reduce their dependence on European Central Bank funding.
"(Greek) banks are in a difficult phase because of the fiscal crisis; 2011 will be a year of restructuring, mergers and cooperation," Bank of Greece chief Yiorgos Provopoulos told reporters at a meeting with President Karolos Papoulias.
"I believe that because of current conditions, it will not be long before (mergers happen)," he said.
Greek banks' funding at the ECB has reached 95 billion euros or about 19 percent of the system's assets.
Citing pressures on liquidity, asset quality and their exposure to Greek government debt, Moody's downgraded the credit rating of six Greek lenders on Wednesday.
Provopoulos, also an ECB Governing Council member, said he he was neither optimistic or pessimistic on the outcome of a euro zone summit on Friday to agree on further steps to contain the region's debt crisis.
"We must not expect too much or too little. The economy's problems must be solved in Athens, not in Brussels," he said.
