Spain to make another EU bailout repayment

 

Spain plans to pay back €2.5 bn in bailout loans it received in 2012 from the EU to bolster its ailing banks, the economy ministry says.

Madrid will transfer the funds to the EU rescue fund in July - ahead of schedule - an economy ministry spokeswoman said.

Spain has already reimbursed two tranches of the €41.4bn in bailout funds it received for its banking sector, despite having decade to do so.

Madrid made a first repayment of €1.3bn in July 2014, followed by a 2nd installation of €1.5bn in March 2015.

Spanish banks were battered when the country's decade-long housing bubble burst in 2008, spurring the state to nationalise some lenders and seek EU aid.

Spain's eurozone partners agreed in June 2012 to provide up to €100bn to rescue its crippled banking system.

The Spanish economy, the eurozone's 4tgh-largest, returned to growth in 2014 with expansion of 1.4% after 5 years of recession.

The government expects the economy will expand by around 3.0% this year, faster than any other large eurozone country.

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