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CARACAS, May 13 (Reuters) - Venezuela has put ailing state-owned Banco Industrial in receivership, Finance Minister Ali Rodriguez said on Wednesday, due to problems "of certain severity."
Rodriguez did not link the decision to the global financial crisis, though the bank may have been affected by a slow-down in the OPEC's nation's economic growth since last year's tumble in oil prices.
The move pushes the existing administration aside and puts government in charge of the daily operations of the country's principal state-owned bank, which has been repeatedly recapitalized in recent years due to balance sheet problems.
Rodriguez said the Banco Industrial, which carries out the bulk of the government's financial transactions, would continue operating normally during the transition.
"A receivership board has been designated that will carry out an exhaustive study of the bank's situation," he said in a televised address.
The state is the 76 percent owner of Banco Industrial. Some of the country's public sector workers have their salaries deposited in there.
President Hugo Chavez on Wednesday said this month his
government will sign a purchase agreement for Banco Venezuela,
a local unit of Spain's Banco Santander
(Reporting by Enrique Andres Pretel, Writing by Brian Ellsworth; Editing by Diane Craft)