Banks can withstand pandemic fallout on economy - BoE

LONDON, May 7 (Reuters) - A "desk top" stress test has shown
that top banks and building societies can withstand the
anticipated economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, the
Bank of England said on Thursday.

The BoE's Financial Stability Report said the stress test
was based on an economic scenario outlined by the Bank's
Monetary Policy Report (MPR).

"The MPR scenario embodies a very sharp economic shock,
resulting in cash-flow difficulties for businesses and rising
unemployment," the report said.

"These developments would generate material losses for banks
on their corporate and household loans. Overall, in the desktop
stress test based on the MPR scenario, banks incur total credit
losses of just over 80 billion pounds [$98.86 billion]."
($1 = 0.8093 pounds)
(Reporting by Huw Jones
Editing by Maiya Keidan)