Atlante fund 'an interesting approach' - Lagarde (2)

(ANSA) - Washington, April 14 - IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said Thursday Italy's new private Atlante fund to shore up the banking sector showed "an interesting approach, limited in scope and amount, but interesting". But she said "it is so recent that I have to reserve judgment". Bad loans are a legacy of the financial crisis, she said, and Italian authorities have recognised it is a problem that must be addressed. The financial industry approved a government-backed plan Monday to set up the privately financed fund to buy up shares in struggling Italian lenders and to take on their non-performing loans.