Credit sector rejects IMF's call for another 20 billion in capital

The local credit sector categorically rejects the International Monetary Fund's fresh questioning of Greek banks' capital adequacy, saying that the risks it cites are incompatible with its forecasts.

The IMF estimates that Greek lenders may require an additional 20 billion euros in order to deal with their losses from nonperforming loans.

Bank managers and sources from the Bank of Greece vehemently deny such a possibility, stressing that for that need to arise the economy would have to nosedive anew in the next three years, something that goes against the forecasts of the Fund itself. They stress that the IMF's baseline scenario is for gross domestic product to expand 2.9 percent next year, then 3.2 percent in 2018 and 2.8 percent in 2019, which should mean banks will not need any additional capital.

"If the economy moves the way that the IMF and the European...