Libya will continue buying UniCredit shares until its stake in the Italian bank reaches 5 percent, its central bank governor told a newspaper, adding it had also bought stock in Italian oil firm Eni. Former colony Libya has taken a 4.23 percent in Italy's second-biggest bank and promised to give as much as 500 million euros ($673.5 million) to its planned capital increase, which was announced in a policy U-turn on October 5.
"At this time, we are the second (biggest) shareholder. And we want to stay as such. Today we have 4.23 percent of the shares. We will continue to buy until we reach a total of 5 percent," Libyan Central Bank Governor Farhat Omar Bin Guidara told Italy's Il Messaggero paper in its Saturday issue. "And let it be clear, our actions are specifically economic and financial, there are no political considerations." Any investment of more than 5 percent in an Italian bank needs the approval of the Bank of Italy.