Stress tests standoff resolved

A standoff with lenders over the timing of stress tests of the bailed-out banks that threatened to cloud the exit from the EU-IMF rescue deal at the end of the year has been resolved, sources close to the matter have said.

The Government has agreed the tests — aimed at gauging banks’ resilience to economic shocks — could take place ahead of a Europe-wide exercise, in line with the EU and IMF’s desire for the banks to be checked before the end of the bailout deal in December.

The Government had wanted the tests carried out in conjunction with a European-wide exercise, expected in early 2014.