Olli Rehn, the European Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs, met with Spanish finance minister Luis de Guindos on Monday in order to discuss the measures taken by the Spanish government to confront the crisis and reduce the deficit.

They also discussed the recent stress tests conducted by Oliver Wyman that reveal a capital shortfall of €59.3bn for Spanish banks.

In the follow-up press conference, Rehn emphasised that Spanish banks need much less than the €100bn offered by the European Union for the bank bailout.

De Guindos explained that the stress tests results were positive and that, in all likelihood, Spain would only have to request €40bn and the bailout would cost around 4% of GDP.

Rehn pointed out that Spanish banks will present their recapitalisation plans for the European Commission's approval. He emphasised that Spain was doing the right thing to repair its banking sector and that the important thing right now is to implement measures.

Rehn repeated that Spain is on the right path, assuring that the country has Europe's support. He did not wish to comment on a potential full bailout for Spain, making it clear that the European Commission has not yet received a bailout request from Spain.

JM

Related share prices