NICOSIA, June 28 (Xinhua) -- Cyprus is faced with "intense pressure" by the European Central Bank (ECB) to modernize its non-performing loans (NPLs) legislation, Finance Minister Haris Georgiades said on Thursday.
Georgiades warned of the risk of a banking crisis unless legislation is introduced urgently to facilitate measures against loan defaulters.
Georgiades also urged parliament to urgently put its stamp on a total of 10 bills on insolvency and foreclosure approved earlier on Thursday by the government at the behest of the European bank watchdog.
He said the problem comes from non-performing loans totaling about 22 billion euros (25.63 billion U.S. dollars) which are the legacy of the 2013 bailout of Cyprus by the Eurogroup and the International Monetary Fund.
"Each additional year required to foreclose translates to a cost of hundreds of millions of euros to the banking system in the form of increased provisions for loan impairments and capital requirements," he said.
The Cypriot parliament is scheduled to meet for the last time before the summer recess on July 6 to debate the legislation.
