Italy does not have a problem with its banks, Finance Minister Pier Carlo Padoan said Sunday, despite investors fretting about nearly $400 billion of bad debts weighing down the sector, reported AFP. Fears of a renewed eurozone debt crisis are rife on the financial markets if Italy does not address the €360 billion ($398 billion) in bad debt sitting in its banks. Markets have turned sour on several Italian banks, most notably Italy’s number-three lender and the world’s oldest bank, Banca Monte Paschi. But Padoan sought to calm nerves on the sidelines of a G20 finance chiefs meeting in the Chinese city of Chengdu. “All the countries should relax: there is no Italian banking problem,” he told AFP. “There is an economy which has been in recession for three years, there is accumulated non-performing loans, which have been dealt with,” he said. “There are very limited number of critical banks which have a large amount of (nonperforming loans) for which market solutions are being considered,” Padoan said.
