Financial aid requests in Germany up EUR 31 bn in February

Germany's financial market stabilisation fund Soffin has said that applications for state aid from financial institutions rose by EUR 31 bn in February. The fund, set up in October 2008 to bail out financial services institutions with severe liquidity problems, received applications for EUR 294 bn in February, compared with EUR 263 bn previously.

So far, EUR 197 bn in government aid has been approved, of which EUR 178 bn pertains to guarantees and EUR 19 bn to recapitalisations. Soffin also said it had received more than 20 preliminary requests for aid. In total, the fund has a budget of EUR 480 bn for bailing out financially distressed institutions.