ROME: Italian bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena gave the go-ahead on Friday to a 5.0 billion euro equity raising that will boost its capital and allow it to repay a government bailout this year.

The bank said in a statement the share sale would give it a strong enough “capital buffer” to withstand EU bank stress tests in the current climate of “high uncertainty and limited visibility”.

The increase will also allow the lender to speed up a restructuring plan, due to be completed by 2017, that includes 8,000 job cuts and the closure of 550 branches.

The Tuscan bank has to pay back by the end of the year some 4.0bn euros ($5.5bn) in credit it received from the Italian government last year to stave off bankruptcy.