LISBON, May 4 Reuters Portugals statebacked Resolution Fund wants to negotiate a large loan from a group of banks to shore up the capital of lender Novo Banco, which was carved out of the collapsed Banco Espirito Santo BES.

Such a cash injection is politically contentious, however, partly because lossmaking Novo Banco is 75owned by U.S. private equity firm Lone Star. The remaining 25 is owned by the Resolution Fund.

The possibility of a loan from a syndicate of banks of the national banking system is on the table, Bank of Portugal Governor Mario Centeno told a news conference late on Monday.

Centeno, a former finance minister, did not provide further details on the size or timing of the capital injection into the countrys thirdlargest bank.

We must wait, he said.

The Resolution Fund is backed by all Portuguese banks which pay annual contributions to finance it, and it can access loans from the state.

Lone Star acquired the majority stake in Novo Banco in 2017, with the sale contract stipulating that the Resolution Fund must inject up to 3.9 billion euros if certain losses occurred from the sale of toxic assets inherited from the collapsed BES.

The injection is meant to keep the banks solvency ratios at the required levels.

During the same news conference on Monday, Resolution Fund head Luis Maximo dos Santos said the fund did not have enough funds to meet its obligations and was still carrying out the checks required to do all capital injections.

According…