Belfius, the Belgian retail arm of bailed-out lender Dexia, was nationalised by Belgium in 2011 when France, Belgium and Luxembourg had to come to the aid of the group caught up in the credit crunch.

"June would be an ideal moment. I think the end of April also still is not excluded, but then things have to move fast," Finance Minister Johan Van Overtveldt told VRT television.

Belgium business daily De Tijd reported on Wednesday that Citigroup, JP Morgan, Merrill Lynch and UBS had been tasked with leading the initial public offering (IPO) of a 25-35 percent stake in the bank.

(Reporting by Robert-Jan Bartunek; editing by Philip Blenkinsop)