FRANKFURT, Sept 25 (Reuters) - The European Central Bank may ‘frontload’ its bank stress test next year, ECB President Mario Draghi said on Monday, when asked if supervisors plan any early checks on the health of Greek lenders.
The International Monetary Fund has been pushing for a fresh asset quality review at Greek banks, possibly as part of an bailout review that is slated to start soon.
The ECB has rejected the call, saying that the next check is the regular 2018 stress test, but Draghi’s words suggest that ECB may be somewhat flexible with its timeline.
“The SSM (Single Supervisory Mechanism) will take its decision with full independence,” Draghi told members of the European Parliament.
“And what the SSM plans to do next year is to have a stress test, possibly frontloading the stress test, and basically the SSM sent a letter to the IMF concerning exactly this expected line of action,” Draghi said. (Reporting by Balazs Koranyi; Editing by Catherine Evans)
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