ATHENS- Greece appointed 18 financial institutions as primary dealers in Greek government bonds in 2021, reducing the total number by two from this year, the country's central bank said on Tuesday.

Banca IMI and UBS will not be in the group in 2021.

The primary dealers in Greek government paper next year will be the following:

Alpha Bank Barclays BNP Paribas BofA Securities Europe Citigroup Global Markets Europe Commerzbank Credit Suisse Securities Deutsche Bank Eurobank Goldman Sachs Europe HSBC Continental Europe Intesa Sanpaolo JPMorgan Morgan Stanley Europe National Bank Nomura Financial Products Europe Piraeus Bank Societe Generale

(Reporting by George Georgiopoulos Editing by Gareth Jones) ((george.georgiopoulos@thomsonreuters.com; +30210 337 6437; Reuters Messaging: george.georgiopoulos.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))