In an effort to shore up its struggling lenders, Italy in April sponsored the creation of the Atlante fund, which raised 4.25 billion euros (3.57 billion pounds) from the country's leading financial institutions.

Having spent more than half its resources to salvage two regional banks, Atlante is now seeking to raise fresh funds that sources said would be used solely to buy bad loans off lenders.

"The closing of (the second tranche) of Atlante is Aug. 8, so we will decide in the next few days about the contribution of Poste Vita," Poste Italiane CEO Francesco Caio told analysts in a results conference call.

The new contribution of Poste Vita, the insurance division of the postal service, will be lower than the 260 million euros it injected in the first round, Caio added.

One source told Reuters last week that Poste's contribution would be 200 million euros.

(Reporting by Francesca Landini; editing by Agnieszka Flak)