Oct. 17 (Bloomberg) -- The problems facing European banks result from a lack of confidence, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said.

“European banks for the most part are sound but there is a mistrust because of their holdings of sovereign debt,” Barroso said in an interview with France’s BFM Radio that was taped over the weekend and ran today.

Banks needing to recapitalize should go to private markets, to their national government, and to European rescue funds, in that order.

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