ROME, April 7 (Reuters) - Italian bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena (BMPS.MI) aims to boost its Core Tier 1 capital adequacy ratio by as much as 0.5 percentage points through a sale of real estate on its books at 2.2 billion euros ($2.98 billion), a source close to the operation said.
"Monte Paschi's Core Tier 1 will rise by 40-50 basis points," based on a sale price for the assets of 2.6 billion to 2.8 billion euros, the source said.
Monte Paschi, which is being advised by Mediobanca (MDBI.MI), aims to close the operation by the end of June, the source told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
Monte Paschi currently has a Core Tier 1 ratio of 6.6 percent.
It is applying to use government-backed bonds to shore up the figure further, along with several other Italian banks.
