MADRID (source : WSJ)—Spain's new central bank chief said the bank failed to act swiftly
after the country's housing market crashed half a decade ago, a rare show of
self-criticism of national institutions that comes as Spain enters the last
stretch of negotiations on the details for a banking bailout.
Bank of Spain Gov. Luis Maria Linde's speech in Parliament on Tuesday was his
first significant statement since he was appointed by conservative Prime
Minister Mariano Rajoy a month ago, replacing Miguel Ángel Fernández Ordóñez , a
Socialist appointee. It also is an indication that Spain's political elite is
starting to come to terms with the unexpected collapse of what was once called
"the Spanish miracle," largely driven by mounting problems in a banking system
that many had once hailed as one of the world's strongest, even after the 2008
Lehman Brothers' bankruptcy.
Senior Spanish officials, faced with growing popular resistance to more
austerity cuts, until now sought to pile pressure on European Union institutions
to do more to help the euro-zone's fourth-largest country. Mr. Rajoy and other
members of the government have said Madrid has done its part and EU partners,
together with the European Central Bank, must now do theirs to ensure that
Spain's borrowing costs fall from the current unsustainable levels.
Finance Minister Luis de Guindos kept up that refrain Tuesday, saying at a
public event that the EU's "extremely slow" decision-making process is hindering
Spain's recovery.
Relations between the government of Mariano Rajoy and Brussels, as well as
some other European governments, have been occasionally awkward since it took
office in December. Mr. Rajoy was seen as moving slowly on dealing with a budget
deficit, and as having stumbled in its handling of the banking crisis.
The new Spanish prime minister upset fellow leaders when he announced a
"sovereign decision" to increase Spain's budget deficit target for this year,
and comments by other Spanish officials about other governments' duties to Spain
have irritated their counterparts. This was followed by newspaper reports
suggesting Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti blamed Spain for heightening
Italy's crisis.
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08:06 BST
European stock markets open lower. Weaker banks and Vodafone pushed Britain's benchmark index down in early trading.
• FTSE 100 index in London is down 16 points at 5697, a 0.3% fall
• Germany's Dax loses 0.2%
• France's CAC falls 0.2%
• Spain's Ibex edges down 0.1%
• Italy's FTSE MiB tumbles 0.5%
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