Share

Greece confirms stress test postponement

Athens - The Greek central bank on Monday said it had agreed with the EU, the IMF and the European Central Bank to delay a stress test on the health of the debt-stricken country's banking system.

The Bank of Greece said that it was "consulted" in the summer by the three organisations bankrolling the country's recent debt rescue about postponing the exercise until later in the year.

It gave no date for when the tests were originally to be held.

"The reason for postponing is that a separate stress test following closely the release of the recent EU-wide stress test results would likely contain no additional information," the Bank said.

"The exercise that will take place towards the end of the year aims to complement the estimation of the capital requirements under Pillar 2 and is part of the supervisory process," it said in a statement.

The European Union carried out stress tests on some 91 major EU banks in July, with most judged to have passed despite some criticism that the testing was not rigorous enough. Five Greek banks passed with varying success but a sixth, ATEbank, failed to make the grade.

The Financial Times had reported that the International Monetary Fund, European Commission and European Central Bank agreed to delay testing the solvency of the bank sector by one month to the end of October.

In May, the three put together a €110bn ($140bn) rescue package for Athens to save it from default, with the government in turn adopting draconian austerity measures to repair its strained public finances.

The Financial Times said the delay in the test means that the banks' nine-month results can be assessed, along with a cash call next month of €1.7bn by National Bank of Greece, the country's largest lender.

Greece offers €300m of three-month bills on Tuesday, after selling more than one billion euros last week, as the government tests how far it has gone in restoring its credibility on the markets after the country's near collapse in May.

While Greece has been able to raise money from the markets, it has also had to pay very high rates of return to get it and the key issue will be whether it can reduce its borrowing costs.

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Rand - Dollar
19.07
+0.5%
Rand - Pound
23.60
+1.0%
Rand - Euro
20.32
+0.3%
Rand - Aus dollar
12.24
+0.5%
Rand - Yen
0.12
+0.4%
Platinum
943.20
-0.8%
Palladium
1,035.50
+0.6%
Gold
2,388.72
+0.4%
Silver
28.63
+1.4%
Brent-ruolie
87.11
-0.2%
Top 40
67,314
+0.2%
All Share
73,364
+0.1%
Resource 10
63,285
-0.0%
Industrial 25
98,701
+0.3%
Financial 15
15,499
+0.1%
All JSE data delayed by at least 15 minutes Iress logo
Company Snapshot
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE
Government tenders

Find public sector tender opportunities in South Africa here.

Government tenders
This portal provides access to information on all tenders made by all public sector organisations in all spheres of government.
Browse tenders