After stress test results, ECB eyes recap of Greek banks by end of June
Brussels – The European Central Bank will not comment on the results of stress tests, announced by the Bank of Greece this week, but expects that Greek lenders will now proceed with raising private capital by the end of June, an ECB official has told Kathimerini.
The representative of the Frankfurt-based bank made it clear that the capital needs, as assessed by BlackRock, are an issue solely for the Bank of Greece as the ECB will be announcing the results of its own stress tests in the fall.
The Bank of Greece announced on Thursday that Greek banks would need a total of 6.4 billion euros in extra capital, 5.8 of which is for the country’s four systemic lenders. The issue had been at the heart of negotiations with the troika, which indicated the figure should be larger.
A European official in Brussels indicated to Kathimerini that the results of the ECB stress tests are unlikely to have an impact. “We did not approve or verify Ireland’s stress tests either,” he said.
He added that the troika expects the ECB’s stress tests to show Greek banks’ capital needs to be 2 to 3 billion higher than the figure announced by the Bank of Greece this week.
