A "three-year loan" that "could reach 300 billion euros". These are the terms of the contingency plan being studied by the International Monetary Fund to save Spain. In particular, immediate help should arrive in Madrid in the event that the Government is unable to raise the 19 billion euros needed on the market to prevent Bankia from going bankrupt, the fourth institution in the country, prostrated by toxic securities linked to the real estate market. The news was released today by the Wall Street Journal, which cites sources inside the Washington institution.
Soon the whirlwind of denials began. Over all that of Christine Lagarde: “There is no such plan – said the number one of the IMF, who just yesterday met with the Spanish deputy prime minister, Soraya Saenz de Santamaria -. We have not received any requests in this regard and we are not working on new financial aid manoeuvres". Even the Spanish Economy Minister, Luis de Guindos, branded the rumors published by the American newspaper as "rumours without any sense".
Meanwhile the Madrid spread, which in recent days has set new historical records on repeat, it remains above the threshold of 530 basis points. The new level of the yield differential between 10-year Bonos and German Bunds with the same maturity corresponds to interest rates on Spanish bonds above 6,5%. And Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has already warned: "With the spread above 500 basis points it is difficult to be able to live long".
