Why Thursday could be a scary day for European banks

Austerity is the new buzzword. After the G20 meeting at the weekend, markets are braced for governments to cut back. But what's really worrying investors is that central banks are talking about cutting back too. There is increasing talk about removing some of the 'monetary stimulus' pumped in via special liquidity schemes and low interest rates and quantitative easing and the like. And this Thursday may give us a snapshot of exactly what that could mean for markets. Because Thursday is the day when the European Central Bank reviews the terms on around half a trillion euros of the banking sector's overdraft. So what might happen?