UniCredit says repaid 29 billion euros of ECB loans

MILAN (Reuters) – Italy’s UniCredit said on Friday it had repaid around 29 billion euros ($30.56 billion) in loans from the European Central Bank (ECB), a bank’s spokesperson said.

The early repayment leaves the group with around 78 billion euros in outstanding Targeted Longer Term Refinancing Operation (TLTRO) III funds.

The ECB has given banks an incentive to get rid of those loans by taking away a rate subsidy in October. It was its first move to mop up cash from the banking system and the first step towards unwinding its massive bond purchases.

($1 = 0.9489 euros)

(Reporting by Gianluca Semeraro; editing by Federico Maccioni)