ATHENS: Greece will release stress test results on its top banks this week without securing the agreement of the IMF, a source close to the talks said, in a further sign of disagreements between Athens and its international
creditors. The stress tests determine the amount of fresh capital leading Greek banks need to cope with challenges such as mounting bad loans.
Bank of Greece governor George Provopoulos earlier held an inconclusive meeting on the issue with the mission representing the country’s creditors — the European Union, International Monetary Fund the European Central Bank. “The thorn in the talks is the IMF estimate of ¤8.5-9bn,” the source said.
According to reports, the Greek central bank estimates the top commercial banks need ¤5-6 bn, based on stress tests commissioned from private analysts BlackRock and confirmed by Ernst & Young and Rothschild as external advisors.
The stress test results, to be released by tomorrow, were originally supposed to have been announced in December, and are separate from those to be conducted by the European Central Bank this year as part of it taking over as the eurozone’s banking supervisor.AFP
