European Central Bank

Eurozone banks continued to cut their pile of soured debt in the final quarter of last year, European Central Bank data showed on Monday, working away on a key legacy of the bloc's debt crisis which has weighed on growth and bank profits.

Growth in lending to the eurozone economy slipped slightly in March, but households' and firms' borrowing kept gaining momentum, European Central Bank data showed April 30.

Bond yields in the euro area rose yesterday as a selloff in U.S. Treasuries gathered pace, although a looming European Central Bank meeting injected a note of caution into regional debt markets.

The eurozone economy enjoyed easier access to credit in the first quarter, a European Central Bank survey showed on April 24, as banks eased their conditions for lending to firms and households.

The European Central Bank is considering shelving planned rules that would have forced banks to set aside more money against their stock of unpaid loans, after suffering a political backlash.

The European Central Bank will obtain direct and in-depth access to banks' loan portfolios in their entirety through a huge statistical project named "Analytical Credit Dataset" (or "Anacredit" for short), which is currently under development.

Greek central bank governor Yannis Stournaras reiterated on Wednesday his call for a precautionary credit line for Greece after it exits its adjustment program in August, saying it does not amount to a new bailout.

Stournaras said the precautionary arrangement would help the country borrow from the markets in a sustainable way.

National Bank CEO Leonidas Fragkiadakis stated on the sidelines of an event organized by the lender on Monday that all of the country's four systemic banks will get a passing mark in the European Central Bank stress tests.

Greek banks are seen passing the European Central Bank's stress tests, the results of which will be published in May, the chief executive of the country's second-biggest lender National Bank of Greece said on Monday. 

The stress tests appear to have come to a happy conclusion for Greek banks, as contacts between lenders' senior officials over the last few days and the European Central Bank and its Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) are said to have indicated that Alpha, National, Piraeus and Eurobank come through the gauntlet.