EU decision on support for banks due

“We are now starting the analysis on what to do beyond the Dec. 31,” regarding extending the support scheme for banks, Joaquin Almunia told reporters at economic forum in Cernobbio, northern Italy.

“In November maybe we will communicate what will be the treatment of public recapitalisation or treatment of impaired assets with public resources in 2011,” he added.

“We will need to discuss how to adapt these exceptional regimes to the new circumstances.”

In June, the Commission extended plans to support banks in the member states hit by the economic crisis until the end of the year, provided the countries concerned also contributed.

On the question of a further two-billion-euro (US$2.57-billion) payment to Ireland's struggling Anglo Irish Bank, Almunia said: “I will be in a position to communicate publicly a decision in the coming weeks.”

On Tuesday, the bank reported a pre-tax loss of 8.2 billion euros (US$10.4 billion) in the six months to the end of June — the biggest first-half loss in Irish corporate history.

Hit by soaring bad debt and a weak economy, the bank was nationalized by the Irish government in early 2009, which has since injected a total of 22.88 billion euros to keep it afloat.

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