IMF staff to visit Spain next week for third bank report

International Monetary Fund staff will visit Madrid on May 21 for their third review of Spain's reforms of its banking system, the IMF said on Thursday.

The IMF's monitoring is part of a deal agreed to with Spain in July, and the fund will present a report about its findings on June 3, IMF spokeswoman Angela Gaviria said in a statement. IMF staff will also visit Spain on June 3 for their annual health check of Spain's economy, the Fund said.

Spain is expected to develop new tougher rules to force lenders to recognize more bad debts as it seeks to clean up its banking sector after massive loans to the housing sector went sour.