SIBIU, Romania (Reuters) - Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said on Thursday there were no plans to nationalize ailing Italian bank Carige, adding that a market solution to save the lender had to be found instead.

U.S. fund manager BlackRock said earlier on Thursday that it had pulled out of a proposed rescue of the Genoa-based bank, a move that could push the Italian government into another costly state bailout.

“Nationalization is not on the agenda,” Conte told reporters at a gathering of European Union leaders in the Romanian town of Sibiu. He added that “all the conditions are present” to find an alternative investor to BlackRock.