IMF says Europe's banking sector still fragile, need to implement, expand oversight of banks

PARIS – The International Monetary Fund says the European Union's banks are still fragile and it still has a way to go to make them stable.

In its first assessment of European financial sector stability, the fund said in a report released Friday that several challenges remain: banks are still struggling to get the loans they need to fund everyday operations, investors are still wary of European countries' debt and growth is stagnant on much of the continent.

The report urged the EU to implement and expand its plans for a single supervisor for its banks. In addition to the supervisor, it says the EU has to quickly create an authority that can close troubled banks and outline the circumstances in which the European bailout fund can directly lend money to banks.