European Union states have underwritten their financial sectors with 4.5 trillion euros ($5.9tn; £3.8tn) of aid since the banking crisis hit.

Top of the league is the UK, which pledged 850.3bn euros of support between October 2008 and October 2010.
The figures come from the European Commission, which must approve state aid to the EU member countries.
The aid includes guarantees, asset relief, and grants, but only a quarter of the money has been drawn down.
List of bank aid pledged by EU states (bn euros): United Kingdom 850.3; Ireland 723.3; Denmark 599.7; Germany 592.2; France 351.1; Spain 334.3; Belgium 328.6; Netherlands 323.6; Sweden 161.6; Austria 91.7; Greece 78; Finland 54; Portugal 20.5; Italy 20; Slovenia 12; Luxembourg 11.6; Hungary 10.3; Poland 9.2; Latvia 8.8; Slovakia 3.4; Cyprus 3; and Lithuania 1.7.
Some 1.1tn was actually drawn down in 2009, according to national figures passed to Brussels. For 2008 it was 957bn euros.
About three quarters of the total 4.5tn approved was in the form of state loans or guarantees.
------Restructuring plan
The EC has imposed a framework aimed at phasing out aid for the bank sector, and intends tougher scrutiny of companies wanting money.
It said in a statement on Wednesday the EC said that from 1 January, ""every bank requiring state support in the form of capital or impaired asset measures will have to submit a restructuring plan"".
EU competition commissioner Joaquin Almunia said: ""After almost two years of a specific crisis state aid regime, we need to prepare a gradual return to normal market functioning.
Spain’s new austerity measures
Spain’s government was set to approve on Friday a fresh round of austerity measures and economic stimulus that it hopes will ease investors fears about its debt.
Spain has announced plans to sell off stakes in the country’s airport authority and national lottery as part of moves to improve public finances.
Companies will be allowed to take a stake of up to 49%R in the Aena airport authority, the government said. The state lottery will also see a 30% stake sold off, and a special payment for a long-term unemployed is to end.
Spain’s budget deficit hit 11.1% of GDP last year, and the government has pledged to cut it to 6% in 2011.
----Tobacco tax
Spain’s government is considering raising taxes on tobacco as it seeks to tackle the budget deficit, according to El Mundo newspaper.
It said the government could raise an extra 1bn euros ($1.33 bn) a year through any such rise.
The report comes as new figures show industrial production fell for the second consecutive month in October.
The drop was due largely to a reduction in the output of consumer durable goods, official data showed Friday.
(Source: Agencies)
Photo: A woman walks along Grafton Street past a newspaper flyer reporting on the government bailout Dublin, Nov. 29, 2010. (Photo: Reuters/Cathal McNaughton)