Eurogroup head says EU fiscal rules need to be simpler

LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) - European Union fiscal rules that set limits on government deficit and debt should be made simpler and more predictable, the chairman of euro zone finance ministers Jeroen Dijsselbloem told a conference on Thursday.

Dijsselbloem, who will step down from his post in mid-January, also said euro zone banks needed to deal with non-performing loans, and that the European Central Bank is right to guide them on how to provision for new bad loans.

He also said that there was broad support among euro zone ministers that their bailout fund, the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), should become a backstop for the euro zone's Single Resolution Fund for banks.

(Reporting By Jan Strupczewski)

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