BoE's Woods says banks have enough lending capacity in pandemic

LONDON, May 4 (Reuters) - Banks should have more than enough freed-up capital to back the volume of loans anticipated to help companies bridge the coronavirus pandemic, Bank of England Deputy Governor Sam Woods said on Monday.

The BoE has allowed banks to tap a reserve of capital known as the counter cyclical capital buffer to support loans up to 190 billion pounds.

"It should be enough to accommodate even an upper end estimate of what might be needed here," Woods told a City & Financial webinar.

Royal Bank of Scotland Chairman Howard Davies told the webinar that banks needed more reassurance from regulators on the amount of time they would get to rebuild capital buffers once the pandemic has passed. (Reporting by Huw Jones; Editing by Alex Richardson)