The German government agency charged with aiding shaky banks said Today it has so far injected 19 billion euros (25 billion dollars) in new equity into floundering banks as well as extending 133 billion euros in guarantees to the system, according to dpa. SoFFin is authorized to call up to 80 billion euros in equity and guarantee up to 400 billion euros in lending. It said that applications so far for the two forms of aid had now totalled 212 billion euros. SoFFin said it was adjusting its statistics so that time extensions to past guarantees were no longer being counted as fresh aid. Banks must pay fees for the guarantees, which allow them to raise money on capital markets with assurances that Berlin will step in in cases of default.
