Florida state fund to reopen for withdrawals: WSJ

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A subprime-stricken $14 billion investment pool for local governments in Florida will allow withdrawals for the first time in a week starting on Thursday, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Local governments and school districts will be eligible to make withdrawals from the state-run Local Government Investment Pool, the Journal reported.

Like other states, Florida runs a short-term investment pool akin to a money-market fund for school districts and other local governments to earn interest on cash holdings. Some deposits were invested in securities whose ratings and values were hurt by the subprime mortgage crisis.

On Tuesday, reacting to a run by depositors spurred by downgrades of some $2 billion of the investment pool's assets, Florida's governor and other members of the State Board of Administration named BlackRock Inc (BLK.N) as interim administrator of the fund.

(Reporting by Emily Chasan)