(Reuters) - Greece's
international lenders have agreed that a lower capital ratio can be used in a
second stress test of the country's major banks, bringing it in line with a
European banking benchmark, a banker close to negotiations told Reuters on
Thursday.
The 'troika' of lenders from the
International Monetary Fund, European Commission and European Central Bank had
wanted the test to be based on a Core Tier 1 capital adequacy ratio of 9
percent, the same as that used in the first round of domestic health checks in
2012.
That rate reflected the high rate of bad
loans in Greece's banking sector. But the lenders agreed to cut the rate to 8
percent for the second check, bringing it into line with the benchmark used for
European bank stress tests.
"The troika has agreed to a Core Tier 1
ratio of 8 percent in the baseline scenario," the banker said. The lower
reference rate will mean lower capital needs for Greece's four main banks. The
four are expected to need about 5 billion euros ($6.83 billion) in extra
capital, two senior banking sources told Reuters last week, near the bottom of
estimates that have ranged from 4.5 billion to 15 billion euros.
The troika, which met with the Bank of
Greece's top brass on Wednesday, is checking the methodology used in the stress
test. The two sides are expected to hold another meeting before the results are
released by late next week, the banker said.
Non-performing loans held by Greek banks
rose to about 31 percent of their total loan book at the end of the third
quarter last year from 29.3 percent at the end of the first half.
(Source: www.reuters.com)
