Spain Requests EU Bank Bail-out

Spanish Parliament – by Manish S Gupta

The Spanish economic ministry has confirmed that it has formally requested €39.5 billion of EU funds for its banking sector. The terms of the deal had already been set out in the nation’s June rescue deal.

The funding is to be split by handing €37 billion to the country’s four nationalised banks - Bankia, Catalunya Banc, NCG Banco and Banco de Valencia – with the remainder set to go towards a “bad bank“,

There have also been fears that the Spanish government will be forced to seek a sovereign bail-out too, but at present, prime minister Mariano Rajoy has resisted making a decision on that issue, although he did concede that it could be a possibility in the future.

The requested European funding is scheduled to be paid into the state’s banking fund by mid-December.