Bulgaria's bank crisis eases after Europe okays credit line

Bulgaria's banking crisis eased on Monday with fewer depositors queueing to withdraw savings after leading politicians assured them that their cash was safe and the European Commission gave Sofia the green light to provide state aid to its lenders.
   
Bulgarians had flocked to branches of First Investment Bank  on Friday and withdrew 800 million levs ($560 million) after a run had shut down another big lender. The central bank said criminals had tried to disrupt the financial system.
   
The authorities appealed for calm and arrested four people suspected of sending emails and mobile phone messages containing false information about the health of Bulgaria's banks.
   
Queues formed nevertheless outside branches of First Investment Bank, although they were smaller than Friday's, and by lunchtime they had disappeared in central Sofia.
   
Approval of Sofia's request to provide 3.3 billion levs ($2.3 billion) in state aid - a precautionary measure - helped shares in First Investment Bank rise 24 percent, reversing Friday's losses.
   
Echoing the International Monetary Fund, the EU executive also said the Bulgarian banking system was "well capitalised" - comments that also helped to soothe the situation.
   
"People have clearly calmed down, which was to be expected after all the statements," said Petar Ganev of the Sofia-based Institute for Market Economics.
   
"However, there are still risks of new attacks against the banking system as no doubt this was a well-prepared attack ... I hope people, including the politicians have learned from all this because it is essential to restore confidence," he said.
   
President Rosen Plevneliev urged Bulgarians to keep faith...