European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager told the Lower House in Rome on Thursday that she was "confident" a solution could be found with the Italian authorities on a bad bank. Vestager, however, did not say how long she thought this would take. Rome has been in talks on setting up a bad bank to relieve the countries' lenders of some 350 billion euros of non-performoing loans without breaching European laws against State aid.
Many Italian banks are weighted down by bad loans after years of recession, forcing them to set aside capital to cover losses.
It is hoped that the creation of a bad bank would free up resources for banks to lend to households and companies and help consolidate Italy's economic recovery.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
