Austria includes small firms in deposit guarantee

VIENNA, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Austria will extend the unlimited guarantee on bank deposits to also cover small and medium companies, not only private individuals, according to a slightly changed draft law that took a key hurdle on Monday.

The country's 100 billion euro ($135 billion) banking package proposed by government last week won approval from the parliament's financial committee with slight modifications from the draft law. Parliament is due to approve it on Monday too.

The changed draft reallocates 10 billion euros of those 100 billion to back the small companies deposit guarantee. Up to 75 billion euros is still earmarked to guarantee interbank lending, down from an originally planned 85 billion euros.

The government is also ready to inject as much as 15 billion euros in equity to prop up banks, should this become necessary. This part of the plan remained unchanged, as did the additional powers it gives to regulators.

Austrian banks are still holding their cards close to their chests regarding whether or not to take up the government on the cash injections, as conditions tied to them will only become clear after the law has passed. (Reporting by Christian Gutlederer and Alexandra Schwarz; Editing by Ron Askew)