Tue, July 03, 2012
MADRID, July 3 (Xinhua) -- Spanish Economy Minister Luis de Guindos on Tuesday said the country's banks will receive financial aid from the European Union (EU) in a matter of weeks.
De Guindos was referring to Bankia, Banco de Valencia, Catalunya Caixa and Novacaixagalacia, all of which have received aid from the government's Fund for the Ordered Restructuring of Banks (FROB).
He said once their capital needs have been assessed and the request for EU aid formalized, the banks would receive EU money in "a question of weeks."
A recent survey by independent auditors Oliver Wyman and Roland Berger calculated that Spain's banks require between 52 billion and 61 billion euros (76.6 billion U.S. dollars) of new capital following their overexposure to toxic debts in the construction sector.
A more detailed audit of Spain's banks will be published in September. While the exact terms and amount of money of the EU bailout of up to 100 billion euros has yet to be agreed, the minister insists that the money will start to arrive soon.
He added that Finland and Holland will not be able to block the agreement reached in Brussels at the end of last week.
"There is no capacity to block the agreement in those countries as has been commented. The decisions of the European Council was unanimous," said De Guindos, who backed the call made by Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy on Monday for "further efforts" to reduce the state deficit.
These efforts are likely to mean yet more spending cuts in Spain's autonomous communities with the risk of further cutbacks in education and health spending. This week saw the introduction of co-payment for a wide range of medicines and pharmaceutical products in Spain's pharmacies.
