IMF to release Japan bank stress tests result in summer

TOKYO: The International Monetary Fund will release as early as this summer the results of health checks on Japanese banks, including their ability to withstand the European debt crisis and weak economic growth, the Nikkei business daily reported on Tuesday.

The IMF's Financial Sector Assessment Programs are in-depth analyses of a country's financial sector that were made mandatory for 25 "systemically important" countries to forestall another global financial crisis.

The IMF, which has began surveying Japanese financial institutions, will conduct on-site checks of banks in March, the Nikkei reported, without citing a source.

The IMF will study the possible impacts of the euro zone crisis on the capital flows of Japanese banks as well as how they can bear up to scenarios such as weak economic growth and a double-dip recession, the Nikkei reported.

Japanese banks have limited exposure to Europe's troubled sovereign debt, though the nation's grim economic environment has taken a toll on its financial industry, forcing banks to cut thousands of jobs.

Copyright Reuters, 2011