Feb. 9 (Bloomberg) -- The European Central Bank’s approval of the temporary use of credit claims as collateral in central bank funding operations by seven euro-area member central banks will provide as much as 70 billion euros of additional funding for Italian banks, according to Fabrizio Saccomanni, director general of the Bank of Italy. Saccomanni spoke to reporters in Rome. The Bank of Italy is one of the seven central banks.

To contact the reporter on this story: Lorenzo Totaro in Rome at ltotaro@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dan Liefgreen at dliefgreen@bloomberg.net