MILAN (Reuters) - Italy's state-financing body Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) has earmarked two funds for an overall 12 billion euros ($15.6 billion) to help rebuild three northern Italian regions hit by an earthquake in May, CDP said on Wednesday.
Half of the funds for the Emilia-Romagna, Veneto and Lombardy regions will go into a scheme that provides low-cost financing to help rebuild homes and factories damaged by the quake and will be available from Jan 2013.
The other 6 billion euros will help meet tax payment deadlines, it said in an emailed statement.
The May quake in northern Italy was the most deadly to strike Italy since 2009 when a tremor partially destroyed the central city of L'Aquila killing about 300 people.
In a separate statement, CDP said it had approved the exercise of an option to buy 100 percent of Fintecna, the state-owned holding company that owns ship builder Fincantieri and other interests, for 1.6 billion euros.
(Reporting By Danilo Masoni)
