Spain's Economy Minister rejects need for bailout

 

Spanish Economy Minister Elena Salgado told state radio on Monday the country had "absolutely no" need for a euro zone bailout.

"The main thing when comparing with Ireland is that our financial sector is strong. Not only have the stress tests shown that, but we designed a fund to help merge savings banks, of which only 11 billion euros has been drawn," Salgado added in an interview on RNE radio.

Many of Spain's unlisted savings banks have merged as part of government measures to overhaul the sector, deeply wounded by a housing boom and bust, at a cost of around 11 billion euros from the restructuring fund (FROB).