LUXEMBOURG - Ireland's finance minister says the European Union is mulling increasing government guarantees for private savings in banks across the 27-nation bloc.

Irish Finance Minister Brian Lenihan says savings of up to euro100,000 (US$135,000) would be guaranteed by EU governments.

Until the outbreak of the credit crunch crisis most EU governments guaranteed consumer savings of up to between euro20,000 and euro25,000 (about US$27,00 to US$34,000).

The plan is meant to assure consumers that their savings are safe and is being debated by EU finance ministers Tuesday. They are also debating ways to curb sky-high bonuses for underperforming executives of financial institutions.

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