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07 March 2009

Almunia warns against unco-ordinated asset relief programmes


The Commission will not advocate measures by all Member States, Almunia underlined. Asset relief measures should be co-ordinated if they are to be effective. They should also primarily be paid for by the banks themselves, he said.

“So far, 2.5 trillion euro has been issued in guarantees for banks and 300 billion euro of capital has been injected into financial institutions to shore up bank balance sheets”, Commissioner Almunia said.

 

To rebuild confidence in the market, the Commission is calling on banks to disclose impaired assets on their balance sheets as a means to evaluate their solvency, Almunia said. “The sooner they do so, the sooner confidence will be restored to the sector as a whole”, he said.

 

However, Almunia warned that the Commission is not advocating measures by all Member States. “Not all countries are affected to the same degree and not all will find it necessary to announce schemes”, he said. “Asset relief measures should be co-ordinated if they are to be effective”.

 

Also, asset relief schemes are a costly solution to the problems in the financial sector, and that's why they should primarily be paid for by the banks themselves, Almunia underlined.

 

Press release

 



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