Spain Banks Bailout: Financial Sector Needs 'Up To €62 Bn' Claims Independent Audit

Spanish Banks Need 'Up To €62 Bn' To Prop Up Financial Sector, Claims Audit

An independent audit of the Spanish banks have said that a bailout of up to €62 bn is needed to prop up the country's beleaguered financial sector.

It had already been announced that up to 100bn euro could be made available to shore up the fourth largest economy in the eurozone, however this figure is much higher than the 40bn euro the International Monetary Fund predicted was needed to save the banks.

Spain's Economy Minister Luis De Guindos told journalists in Luxemborg: "We have already started working on the design of the aid [for Spanish banks] with the Commission, the European Central Bank, and the International Monetary Fund" according to the BBC.

However there has been scepticism over whether the "bailout lite" of the country's banks will be enough to save the debt-ridden nation.

Spain's economy took a battering after the real estate market crashed, as banks had seized lots of property from customers who defaulted on loans. The banks struggled after those assets dramatically depreciated due to a slump in the property market.

As real estate continues to decrease in value, analysts fear even more money will be needed to stop the country from collapsing.

Another round of more detailed stress testing is to take place later on in July, focussing on the banks' assets.

Many analysts predict that those figures will be three or four times more than the amount published in the report by independent auditors Oliver Wyman and Roland Berger on Thursday.

Concerns over Spain's credit worthiness have deepened as Spanish borrowing costs hit a 16-year-high.

Although 2.2 bn euros worth of bonds repayable over two, three and five years were sold at auction, much more than was expected, the high yield of 6.97% on its five year bonds, up from 4.96% in May, teeter closely to 7%. This is widely regarded as bailout territory and Greece, Ireland and Portugal received a full bailout when their borrowing costs hit this high.

The auction showed that money is available to Spain, but they are having to pay a high price for it. Italy's Prime Minister Mario Monti suggested at the G20 summit that the eurozone use funds to buy government bonds from Italy and Spain in a bid to lower the price of borrowing.

Ministers are meeting in Luxemborg to discuss the extra capital needed for the Spanish banks as well as a possible renegociation of Greece's two bailout deals. .

The coalition government, headed by New Democracy's Antonis Samaras, hopes to reduce the monthly amount paid back to EU and International Monetary Fund.

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