The government on Thursday approved a state guarantee to bank Dezelna banka Slovenije (DBS) to issue bonds on international financial markets. The bank will use part of the 100m loan to refinance its exiting liabilities and part for crediting businesses.

The bank plans to carry out an EUR 100m bond issue with a five-year maturity this month, the Government Communication Office said in a press release after the cabinet session. The bank had total assets of EUR

911.05m in 2009 and saw its net profit shrink by 66% to EUR 335,000.

DBS is the fourth Slovenian bank to be granted a state guarantee under the EUR 12bn scheme adopted in November 2008 to help alleviate the credit crunch. So far, the government approved state guarantees to NLB, Slovenia's biggest bank, Abanka , the third largest bank, and Factor banka.

NLB sold EUR 1.5bn worth of bonds in international financial markets in July 2009 and Abanka carried out an EUR 500m bond issue two months later. Factor banka obtained an EUR 100m guarantee in December 2009.

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