The European Commission gave the green light Thursday to a Swedish bailout plan worth 150 billion euros (197 billion U.S. dollars) to stabilize the nation's financial market.
The Commission said in a statement that the plan was in line with European Union rules on state aid for overcoming the financial crisis.
"In particular, the beneficiaries will pay an adequate remuneration for the guarantee, which is available on a non-discriminatory basis, is limited in time and scope and contains behavioral safeguards to avoid abuses," the statement said.
The Commission approved the plan only three days after being notified it of by Sweden. The package is aimed at restoring investor confidence in the financial markets and stimulating inter-bank lending.
"The Swedish measures were well-designed and needed little alteration to take full account of the state aid rules' requirements that such schemes are non-discriminatory and minimize potential distortions of competition," EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said. "We have therefore been able to approve the scheme very quickly after notification."
The package consists of a guarantee scheme covering new short and medium term non-subordinated debt and support for solvent banks and mortgage institutions that have difficulties in accessing financing.
The total amount of debt to be covered is capped at 1,500 billion Swedish kronur (197 billion dollars) and concerns instruments with a maturity of three years maximum, or exceptionally five years for covered bonds only.
The Commission said the package comprises elements of state aid but contains several provisions aimed at ensuring its adequacy and proportionality under the EU state aid rules.
Source:Xinhua
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