ECB won’t say if Irish banks included in new debt survey

The ECB isn’t saying whether Irish banks — which hold high levels of non-performing loans on their balance sheets — will be included in a ECB study of eurozone banks and their soured loans.

Reuters in Frankfurt reported yesterday that the ECB “is quizzing” a number of eurozone banks about their high levels of non-performing loans, saying the central bank is ramping up “efforts to tackle the region’s mountain of bad debt”.

A spokesman for the ECB told the Irish Examiner it wasn’t commenting on whether any Irish banks were involved in the new eurozone sample.