The high cost of not tackling debt issues

The banks were given taxpayers' money as part of a recapitalisation deal. One part of this was that they had enough capital to deal with bad debts. It is now time for them to get on and do this, dealing realistically with borrowers in trouble and making a genuine effort to come up with sustainable solutions. Hoarding capital and pretending everything is going to be all right is not the way forward.

There ...