Rome (Italy) - Shares in Italy’s Monte dei Paschi suffered further steep falls on Monday as it makes a last-ditch attempt to raise five billion euros by year-end to avoid a state bailout.

Loan writedowns and bad debts, plus a lasting hangover from the financial crisis mean Italy’s banks are on the edge of a precipice. Provisions to cover liabilities on “unlikely to pay” and past due debt are less than half of those set aside for bad debt, limiting the freedom of the banks to get fresh credit on the markets.