Guarantee Fund has 150m euros available permanently

The bank deposit Guarantee Fund (FGBD) has signed the agreements for stand-by lines of credit with commercial banks in the system, thanks to which it can attract funding of up to 150 million euros, in case of a significant need for cash. The signing process was completed mid last month, announced the Fund. Each bank has made available a stand-by credit line, and the ceiling is established proportionately to the volume that the deposits of that respective institution hold among the total of deposits guaranteed by the Fund. The law that stipulates how the Fund”s resources are to be set up was modified in March, with contributions from the banks (as a percentage of the resources attracted) being cut in half, and a funding line was set up in parallel. According to the law, this year the banks are to make a contribution of 0.2% of the deposits they attracted, with 2007 to see a drop in this percentage to 0.1%. In order to achieve the optimal degree of coverage of the Fund”s exposure, the ceiling of stand-by funding was established at 150 million euros for this year. ZF