Greece to EU: Bad loans plan not state aid to banks

The government is moving quickly to develop plans to reduce the retail banks' nonperforming loans, hoping it will make up for the wasted time under the SYRIZA government.
Speeding up the banking sector reform is a priority for the government, since the credit rating agencies say that the volume of bad loans is one of the biggest obstacles to upgrading the country's debt rating, which, in turn, is holding back economic growth.
George Zavvos, the deputy finance minister in charge of dealing with the banking sector, is trying to convince the European Union's Directorate-General for Competition to agree with the Asset Protection Scheme devised by the Hellenic Financial Stability Fund (HFSF).
The plan involves the securitization of the bad loans and the Commission's main concern is that it does not become a vehicle for state aid to banks.
If the Commission,...