IMF Sets New Report on Spain Banking Reform
The International Monetary Fund on Thursday said it was sending a team to Spain next week in preparation for a new report on the country's banking sector reform.
The IMF staff team will start discussions Tuesday in Madrid with the authorities and private-sector representatives to produce the Fund's third independent monitoring report of Spain's banking sector, IMF spokeswoman Angela Gaviria said in a statement.
"The report is part of the technical assistance provided by IMF staff and agreed with the Spanish authorities and the European partners in July 2012," Gaviria said.
A preliminary report by the mission is expected around June 3, with a final report submitted to the Spanish authorities and the European Commission in late June.
Also in June, a separate IMF team will conduct the annual Article IV review of Spain's economy, the fourth-largest in the 17-nation eurozone.
Their preliminary assessment will be published around June 18, and their staff report will be discussed by the IMF executive board "later in the summer", Gaviria said.
Spain is struggling to overcome the aftermath of a property bubble that imploded in 2008 and hammered Spanish banks.
Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's government is battling to cut Spain's annual public deficit with austerity measures amid record-high unemployment that have prompted mass protests.
The economy is expected to shrink by 1.3 percent in 2013 before posting modest growth of 0.5 percent in 2014, according to government estimates.
Source: Agence France Presse
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