A stress test on the health of the banking system in debt-stricken Greece has been postponed to allow the authorities more time to prepare, the Financial Times reported yesterday.
The newspaper said the IMF, European Commission and European Central Bank agreed with Greece’s central bank to delay testing the solvency of the bank sector by one month to the end of next month. In May, the three put together a 110 billion euro (US$140 billion) rescue package for Athens to save it from default, with the government in turn adopting draconian austerity measures to repair its strained public finances.
The Financial Times said the delay in the test means that the banks’ nine-month results can be assessed, along with a cash call next month of 1.7 billion euros by National Bank of Greece (NBG), the country’s largest lender.
The report quoted an unnamed senior Greek banker as saying that “a successful offering by NBG would boost investor confidence ... It would also accelerate mergers and acquisitions already under discussion.”
Greece offers 300 million euros of three-month bills today, after selling more than 1 billion euros last week, as the government tests how far it has gone in restoring its credibility on the markets after the country’s near collapse in May.
While Greece has been able to raise money from the markets, it has also had to pay very high rates of return to get it and the key issue will be whether it can reduce its borrowing costs.
The EU carried out stress tests on 91 major EU banks in July, with most judged to have passed despite some criticism that the testing was not rigorous enough.
PLA MANEUVERS: Although Beijing has yet to formally announce military drills, its coast guard vessels have been spotted near and around Taiwan since Friday The Taiwanese military is on high alert and is closely monitoring the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) air and naval deployments after Beijing yesterday reserved seven airspace areas east of its Zhejiang and Fujian provinces through Wednesday. Beijing’s action was perceived as a precursor to a potential third “Joint Sword” military exercise, which national security experts said the PLA could launch following President William Lai’s (賴清德) state visits to the nation’s three Pacific allies and stopovers in Hawaii and Guam last week. Unlike the Joint Sword military exercises in May and October, when Beijing provided detailed information about the affected areas, it
Five flights have been arranged to help nearly 2,000 Taiwanese tourists return home from Okinawa after being stranded due to cruise ship maintenance issues, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications announced yesterday. China Airlines Ltd (中華航空), and EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) have arranged five flights with a total of 748 additional seats to transport 1,857 passengers from the MSC Bellissima back to Taiwan, the ministry said. The flights have been scheduled for yesterday and today by the Civil Aviation Administration, with the cruise operator covering all associated costs. The MSC Bellissima, carrying 4,341 passengers, departed from Keelung on Wednesday last week for Okinawa,
US president-elect Donald Trump said he would “never say” if Washington is committed to defending Taiwan from China, but “I would prefer that they do not do it [ an attack],” adding that he has a “good relationship” with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). “I never say because I have to negotiate things, right?” Trump said in an interview with NBC’s Meet the Press host Kristen Welker after saying he would not reveal his incoming administration’s stance on Taiwan’s defense in the event of an attack. Asked the question again, Trump, in a reference to China, said: “I would prefer that they
CROSS-STRAIT TENSIONS: MOFA demanded Beijing stop its military intimidation and ‘irrational behavior’ that endanger peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region The Presidential Office yesterday called on China to stop all “provocative acts,” saying ongoing Chinese military activity in the nearby waters of Taiwan was a “blatant disruption” of the “status quo” of security and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. Defense officials said they have detected Chinese ships since Monday, both off Taiwan and farther out along the first island chain. They described the formations as two walls designed to demonstrate that the waters belong to China. The Ministry of National Defense yesterday said it had detected 53 military aircraft operating around the nation over the past 24 hours, as well
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