Slovenia's capital injection plan gets EU approval

The European Commission has given the green light to a plan by the Slovenian government to offer five banks state aid for recapitalization, local media reported Wednesday. The plan will "strengthen confidence in Slovenian banks," European Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia was quoted as saying in Brussel. The EU's executive body made the approval after Ljubljana announced last week that it would earmark 3.01 billion euros (4.13 billion U.S. dollars) for the recapitalisation of three biggest banks in Slovenia -- Nova Ljubljanska Banka (NLB), Nova Kreditna Banka Maribor (NKBM), and Abanka Vipa. Slovenian Finance Minister Uros Cufer announced the capital injection plan as the results of stress tests of eight major banks in the country were made public on Thursday. The eight banks were found to be short of 4.78 billion euros, according to the EU-mandated stress tests. The latest official announcement about the conditions of Slovenian banks shows that the Slovenian government can bail out its banks without international aid, analysts said.