Only markets will tell if tests have restored euro confidence

THE bank stress tests were designed to restore confidence in the euro and Europe’s banking sector but whether they achieve their aim will not become clear until next week.

There were criticisms that the tests were too soft because so many banks passed and because they did not measure the impact if an EU member states defaulted on its debts.

But Giovanni Carosio, the head of the EU’s banking supervisors body that coordinated the tests, insisted this was irrelevant.