The alerts about the financial health of Spain were further strengthened Wednesday after the revelations of the Spanish newspaper El Economista. According to business daily, the European Union and the International Monetary Fund are preparing a rescue plan for Spain, providing a credit line of between 200 and 250 billion euros. The announcement of a forthcoming call for help had already returned insistently in recent days in the German press. Information that Brussels and the IMF have strongly denied Wednesday.
The announcement of a visit by IMF Managing Director, scheduled for Friday, has added to the panic. Although Dominique Strauss-Kahn said Wednesday in Paris that it was only "a working visit". To cut short the rumors, general manager told AFP he goes to all European countries."I'm in France, is there any rumors in France? I'm going to Italy. Is there any rumors in Italy? "He also downplayed the financial problems of Spain at a conference on Europe and China:" It is also said to exaggerate it a country that has great difficulty and yet the debt is 53% of GDP, which is relatively modest. "
Labour Market Reform
The Spanish head of government has also applied to reassure. Spain is a "country solvent, solid, strong and with the international credit, said Wednesday Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero before the Spanish Parliament. The Economy Minister Elena Salgado for his part denied that Brussels has put pressure on Madrid. Support for the Spanish cause is from Paris."We see no reason to be concerned for Spain, and there is no subject in the Spanish agenda of the European Council, it was said at the Elysee.
These multiple statements have not been enough to calm markets that have remained very nervous. The Spanish rate in a decade rose 10 points in the day 4.8%, approaching levels Portuguese. The yield spread between German and Spanish titles to ten years to 223 basis points on Wednesday, a record, as investors consider the Spanish debt more risky. The motion of no confidence falls ill in Madrid, which must issue this morning 3.5 billion euros of bonds to ten years.
The concern of the market relates to both the country's financial situation and the capacity of economic recovery.The government on Wednesday passed a labor reform, considered essential for revitalizing the job but remains highly contested by the unions.
In a report released Wednesday, the Bank of Spain insists on the need to implement "as quickly as possible" of economic adjustment measures to increase the competitiveness of the economy Hispanic counter the drop in employment and deterioration public finances. But the Spanish savings banks, the Achilles heel of the banking sector, require 11 billion euros to the state for further restructuring.
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