CatalunyaCaixa would need an additional €4.5 billion to meet the last financial requirements

Madrid (ACN).- CatalunyaCaixa would need an additional amount of €4.5 billion in order to meet the requirements detailed in the Spanish Government’s last decree, according to the Bank of Spain Deputy Governor and President of the Spanish Fund for Orderly Bank Restructuring (FROB), Javier Aríztegui. Aríztegui announced this amount at a closed-door hearing at the Spanish Parliament on Thursday afternoon. The €4.5 billion would be added to the €2.968 billion that the Spanish State has already allocated to CatalunyaCaixa, which was intervened by the FROB last September and transformed into CatalunyaBanc. In addition, Aríztegui stated that Novagalícia would also need an additional €4.5 billion. Both financial entities are going through an auction process and therefore the FROB would only have to inject this money if the Spanish Government were not able to sell.

Aríztegui explained that the €9 billion (half for CatalunyaCaixa and the other half for Novagalícia) would not be used to cover losses but to make the provisions which are required by the Spanish Government’s last decree. These €9 billion would be added to the €19 billion required by Bankia.

The Spanish Government has refused to give a total figure on how much money will be required by Spain’s banking system, arguing that an independent audit is ongoing. The Spanish Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, and the Economy Minister, Luis de Guindos, emphasised on Thursday that it would not be a good idea giving a figure without waiting for the audit’s results, as it will shed light on the exact situation of Spain’s banking system. However, on Thursday, information coming from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) established Spanish banks’ required amount at €40 billion.