VIENNA, AUSTRIA - AUSTRIA'S parliament approved a 100-billion-euro (US$196.8 billion) bailout plan on Monday to stabilise the country's banking sector in the fallout from the global financial crisis.

Vienna will guarantee up to 75 billion euros in loans and set aside 15 billion euros for injecting money into troubled banks. A further 10 billion has been pooled to guarantee the savings of members of the public.

Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer, who unveiled the scheme last week after a meeting of European leaders, told the Austrian parliament that the money was a not a gift.

'We are not giving banks a present,' he said during the parliamentary debate on the package.

Individuals' bank deposits will have unlimited protection until December 31, 2009. After that time, the state will guarantee up to 100,000 euros per account. Before the law was passed, just 20,000 per account was protected.

Bank deposits for business account holders will be guaranteed up to 50,000 euros - an increase from 20,000 euros before the package was approved.

The injection of cash, or recapitalisation, will be carried out by a subsidiary of OIAG, an Austrian public holding company which manages the state's investment portfolio in nationalised or partially-nationalised companies.

In exchange for lending banks cash at the going market rate, the government will take part-ownership of OIAG.

The text also includes measures to crack down on so-called short-selling.

Short-sellers borrow assets, such as shares, currencies or commodities, and then sell them at the current price, hoping the price will fall. They aim to pay for the asset later at a lower price, keeping any profits made.

Critics say short-selling was one of the driving factors behind the stock market tumble in recent weeks.