ALJAZEERA: Luis de Guindos, the Spanish economy minister, said in a speech on Thursday evening that Spain and Europe were at crossroads as speculation mounts over whether the country will need a bailout. The danger is that Spain’s $1.24 trillion economy is far bigger than those of already bailed-out Greece, Ireland and Portugal combined.
Spain’s banking sector is laden with soured investments on real estate and the government needs $24bn to rescue just one lender, Bankia SA, at a time of recession and crushing unemployment of 24.4 per cent…
De Guindos said Europe needed new mechanisms, including one allowing the continent’s bailout fund to inject capital directly into troubled banks rather than go through governments first. It also needs a pan-European bank deposit insurance plan like the United States has, he said… (more)
