MercoPress http://en.mercopress.com/ South Atlantic News Agency en Copyright 2013, MercoPress. http://en.mercopress.com/web/img/en/mercopress-logo.gif MercoPress http://en.mercopress.com/ <![CDATA[Bad debts held by Spanish banks reach 169bn Euros or 10% of total loans]]> Deputy PM Soraya Saenz de Santamaria: rescue or no rescue, that is the question The value of bad debts held by Spain's banks in July rose to 169.3bn Euros, according to latest figures from the central bank. The Bank of Spain said 9.9% of banks' total loans were in arrears, up from 9.4% a month before.

]]> Wed, 19 Sep 2012 06:12:00 GMT <![CDATA[Spain expected this weekend to ask help from the Euro zone to bail out its banks]]> Deputy PM Soraya Saenz de Santamaria said government needs an estimate before taking a decision. Spain is expected to ask the Euro zone for help with recapitalising its banks this weekend, sources in Brussels and Berlin said on Friday, becoming the fourth country to seek assistance since Europe's debt crisis began.

]]> Sat, 09 Jun 2012 05:08:00 GMT <![CDATA[Spain calls on US and IMF for political support in helping the banking system]]> Deputy PM Saenz de Santamaria met on Thursday with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and IMF chief Lagarde The United States and Spain discussed the possibility that direct loans from Europe's emergency fund could be a solution for ailing European banks, Spanish Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria said Thursday.

]]> Fri, 01 Jun 2012 02:20:00 GMT <![CDATA[Argentina writes to EU expressing “great concern” because of Spanish ban on bio-diesel]]> Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria announced the ban last month The Argentine government expressed “great concern” on Monday following the decision from the Spanish government to ban bio-diesel “not produced within the European Union” from the country.

]]> Mon, 14 May 2012 23:17:00 GMT <![CDATA[Gibraltar Tripartite dialogue dead, announces Spanish Vice president]]> Soraya Saenz de Santamaria: talks on cooperation matters will continue Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Garcia Margallo has sent a letter to his UK counterpart William Hague responding to Prime Minister David Cameron’s remarks on self-determination.

]]> Mon, 30 Jan 2012 09:20:00 GMT <![CDATA[Spanish banks must set aside 50bn Euros to cover ‘toxic’ real estate assets]]> Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria: no “bad bank” to deal with toxic assets Spain's Conservative government ruled out a bad bank to deal with toxic property assets, wary of adding more debt to a nation fighting to control its deficit and putting the onus on lenders to make their own provisions.

]]> Fri, 06 Jan 2012 07:01:00 GMT <![CDATA[New Spanish government announces draconian measures to balance the budget]]> Deputy PM Soraya Saenz Santamaria headed the table that made the announcements Spain's new government revealed on Friday that the public deficit for 2011 would come in at 8% of GDP, well above a target of 6%, and announced income and property tax hikes and a civil servant wage freeze in response.

]]> Fri, 30 Dec 2011 21:39:00 GMT