ECB gave no deadline for Monte Paschi to find buyer: CEO

MILAN (Reuters) - The European Central Bank has not set a deadline for Italian bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena to find a buyer but wants to see precise steps in this direction, the lender's chief executive said on Thursday.

Fabrizio Viola told reporters the bank did not have any suitors for now.

The ECB wants "defined steps over time, without an excessive uncertainty" over the timeframe of a merger, Viola said.

"We have said we want to get engaged. Right now we are still single," he said, adding there were no suitors for the time being.

(Reporting by Silvia Aloisi)