Christian Democrat Peter Harry Carstensen told German public broadcaster Deutschlandfunk that he phoned Dirk Jens Nonnenmacher, the head of the regional bank HSH-Nordbank, to ask him to forego a 2.9 million euro bonus, at least until HSH-Nordbank's fortunes were reversed.

The publicly owned bank has received state aid that has saved it from collapse in the wake of the global financial crisis.

Carstensen said Nonnenmacher was legally entitled to the money, but that there was no "moral justification for the payment."

The CEO's bonus has triggered a storm of controversy in Schleswig-Holstein and was one of the central issues behind the acrimonious collapse of the coalition government in Kiel last week.

Carstensen said both parties had supported the bonus, but his former Social Democrat partners accused him of lying.

Carstensen has since confirmed that he gave false information to parliament by saying the SPD approved the bonus.

After sacking four Social Democrat ministers, the premier lost a confidence vote on Thursday. It was a move aimed at forcing forward fresh elections, which the conservatives are widely expected to win.

In the likely event of an election victory, Carstensen has promised savings measures and tough decisions to deal with an economic crisis which has taken a dramatic toll on the state's revenues.

nw/dpa/AP
Editor: Kyle James