Athens: Greece's central bank chief said he expected the country's lenders to smoothly pass European Union stress tests to be published this week.
"My feeling is that things will go smoothly for the six Greek banks included in the sample," George Provopoulos, governor of the Bank of Greece, said in an interview published in newspaper Imerisia Friday.
At the same time, Greece's banking sector needed to consolidate to better cope with the economic crisis, Provopoulos added.
Joining forces
"My view is that Greek banks must join forces to cope, from a more advantageous position, with a more adverse macroeconomic and financial environment in the next years," he said.
A bid submitted last week by Piraeus Bank, Greece's fourth-largest, to take control of state-run ATEbank and Hellenic Postbank, was a first step in this direction, Provopoulos said.
"Mergers impose themselves... in the medium term," Provopoulos said.
Greece's central bank chief said he was reasonably optimistic that the government would manage to meet its deficit cut targets this year, helping the economy enter a virtuous circle from September.
