BRUSSELS, Aug 24 (Reuters) - Slovenia won European Union regulatory approval on Tuesday to extend a liquidity support scheme for banks hurt by the financial crisis until the end of the year.
The European Commission, the EU competition authority, had initially cleared the scheme in March last year and has already agreed to two extensions. "The extended scheme features higher premiums to be paid by the banks for the loans granted by the state. This is to encourage banks to finance themselves without state support and to limit distortions of competition," the Commission said in a statement. The EU executive has approved similar support schemes across the 27-country group.
(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; editing by David Brunnstrom)