15/04/2014 (Agence Europe) - Cooperatives adequately capitalised. On Tuesday 15 April, Aliki Stylianou, the spokesperson for the Cypriot National Bank stated that the cooperative bank sector remains adequately capitalised with the Core Tier 1 ratio of 14%, which is significantly higher than the minimum regulatory requirement of 9%. She denied rumours carried by the Cyprus News report of a 10% hair-cut of these banks, similar to what happened last year at the Bank of Cyprus and Laiki Bank. On the question of toxic loans contaminating the banking sector, Cypriot Minister for Finance Harris Georgiades opined in an interview on Saturday with the Cyprus News agency, that creation of a “bad bank” was an option that had to remain on the table but the decision was not one to be taken at a political level but by the banks themselves. (EL)