por admin » Sab Jun 09, 2012 6:33 pm
Espana solicto $125 billones de ayuda para su banca
2012, 5:42 p.m. ET
Spain Requests EU Aid for Banks
By JONATHAN HOUSE in Madrid and MATINA STEVIS and GABRIELE STEINHAUSER in Brussels
Spain said Saturday it would ask Europe for financial aid for its ailing banks, a step that would make it the fourth and largest euro-zone economy to require rescue funds from its euro-zone partners.
Spanish Finance Minister Luis de Guindos told a news conference that the European Union will grant Spain a loan of as much as €100 billion ($125 billion) that the government will funnel to banks that need capital. Euro-zone finance ministers said they welcomed the Spanish step, saying the sum "must cover estimated capital requirements with an additional safety margin."
Mr. de Guindos said, "The Spanish government is determined to do its best to protect the stability of the euro." He added that the conditions attached to the loans "will be imposed to banks, not to Spanish society, nor to its fiscal or economic policy." He added that "the figure seeks to dispel all doubts."
The agreement came after days of talks between Spanish and European officials that culminated in a conference call among finance ministers Saturday afternoon, in which the framework for the support was agreed.
European governments put intense pressure on Spain to agree to a support package for banks that have suffered in a real-estate crash—and ahead of Greek elections next weekend that they fear could send a new wave of turmoil through the region's financial markets.
The talks extended as Spain tried to minimize conditions on the loans and to limit the role of the International Monetary Fund, officials said. Spain also strenuously sought to avoid the aid being depicted as a bailout like those provided to Greece, Ireland and Portugal, officials said.
The euro-zone ministers said the IMF has been invited to assist in the implementation and monitoring of the financial support to Spain "with regular reporting." However, unlike Greece, Ireland and Portugal, Spain won't be asked to implement an extra austerity program beyond that it has already committed to. Unlike in these programs, the IMF won't provide funding for Spain.
The IMF's managing director, Christine Lagarde, said in a statement, "The IMF stands ready...to support the implementation and monitoring of this financial assistance through regular reporting." She also welcomed the decision to backstop Spanish banks with euro-zone funds.
In a report released late Friday, the IMF said it thought Spain's banks need an additional €37 billion in capital to cover losses in a deteriorating local economy. But it added they might need to raise much more than that—between €60 billion and €80 billion—to shore up investor confidence.
A formal request by Spain is expected before June 21, when euro-zone finance ministers meet in Luxembourg and after a detailed report is issued by two government-appointed advisers on the banks' capital needs. "It was in everyone's interest to have the situation clarified before the Greek elections," a European official said.
The European Commission, the European Union's executive arm, said it stood ready to swiftly play its role in the Spanish loan.
"The Commission is ready to proceed swiftly with the necessary assessment on the ground, in close liaison with the [European Central Bank], the [European Banking Authority] and the IMF, and to propose appropriate conditionality for the financial sector," Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso and vice-president Olli Rehn said in a statement.
Mr. de Guindos, Spain's finance minister, said the eventual request could be smaller than €100 billion. The ministers said the support would come either from the euro zone's temporary bailout fund or, as soon as it was operational in July, the permanent rescue vehicle, the European Stability Mechanism.
"That figure is mostly for the markets and doesn't mean that the actual disbursements have to be that much," one official said.
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble welcomed "the determination of the Spanish government to address the [bank] recapitalization."
"Spain is on the right track and Germany, as well as the other countries and institutions in the euro zone, and probably the IMF, will closely accompany and support Spain in its efforts to restructure the banking sector," he said.
Mr. de Guindos pointed out that the loans Spain will get from the funds will be "lower than market price." Spain is now paying more than 6% for 10-year money.
He said the loan will add to Spain's debt load. Officials said the government failed to secure a deal in which the bailout funds would directly inject capital into Spanish banks, thereby avoiding swelling Spanish government debt.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, in a statement Saturday, said the U.S. welcomed "Spain's action to recapitalize its banking system and the commitment by its European partners to provide support. These are important for the health of Spain's economy and as concrete steps on the path to financial union, which is vital to the resilience of the euro area."
Spanish and EU officials hope the bailout will allow the government to maintain market access to meet its own funding needs. If Spain were to lose market access for a prolonged length of time, the cost of supporting Spain—an economy twice the size of those of Greece, Portugal and Ireland combined—would be enormous.
"It's a loan from Europe with extraordinarily favorable conditions and reduces the pressure on the Spanish treasury," Mr. de Guindos said.
—Vanessa Mock in Brussels, William Boston in Berlin and Santiago Pérez in Madrid contributed to this article.
Eurogroup Statement on Spain
The Eurogroup supports the efforts of the Spanish authorities to resolutely address the restructuring of its financial sector and it welcomes their intention to seek financial assistance from euro area member states to this effect.
The Eurogroup has been informed that the Spanish authorities will present a formal request shortly and is willing to respond favourably to such a request. The financial assistance would be provided by the EFSF/ESM for recapitalisation of financial institutions. The loan will be scaled to provide an effective backstop covering for all possible capital requirements estimated by the diagnostic exercise which the Spanish authorities have commissioned to the external evaluators and the international auditors. The loan amount must cover estimated capital requirements with an additional safety margin, estimated as summing up to €100 billion in total.
Following the formal request, an assessment should be provided by the Commission, in liaison with the ECB, EBA and the IMF, as well as a proposal for the necessary policy conditionality for the financial sector that shall accompany the assistance.
The Eurogroup considers that the Fund for Orderly Bank Restructuring (FROB), acting as agent of the Spanish government, could receive the funds and channel them to the financial institutions concerned. The Spanish government will retain the full responsibility of the financial assistance and will sign the MoU.
The Eurogroup notes that Spain has already implemented significant fiscal and labour market reforms and measures to strengthen the capital base of the Spanish banks. The Eurogroup is confident that Spain will honour its commitments under the excessive deficit procedure and with regard to structural reforms, with a view to correcting macroeconomic imbalances in the framework of the European semester. Progress in these areas will be closely and regularly reviewed also in parallel with the financial assistance.
Beyond the determined implementation of these commitments, the Eurogroup considers that the policy conditionality of the financial assistance should be focused on specific reforms targeting the financial sector, including restructuring plans in line with EU state-aid rules and horizontal structural reforms of the domestic financial sector.
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