Greek banks must cut bad debt faster to aid economy

Tough time: A cleaning lady mops the steps at the main entrance of the Bank of Greece headquarters in Athens. Greek lenders are saddled with 10s of billions of euros of non-performing credit after a deep, protracted recession pushed unemployment to record highs, making it hard for corporate borrowers and households to service their debts. — Reuters

ATHENS: Greece’s big banks must take faster action to clean up their huge stock of troubled loans to help the ailing economy’s recovery and set the banking system on a solid footing, Eurobank’s board chairman said.

Greek lenders are saddled with tens of billions of euros of non-performing credit after a deep, protracted recession pushed unemployment to record highs, making it hard for corporate borrowers and households to service their debts.