Spain Needs No Sovereign Bailout, German Minister Says

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said on Friday that Spain did not need a sovereign bailout on top of the package already agreed for its banks because it was on the right path to regain the confidence of markets.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said on Friday that Spain did not need a sovereign bailout on top of the package already agreed for its banks because it was on the right path to regain the confidence of markets.

"Spain needs no programme because it is doing the right thing and will be successful," he told foreign correspondents in Berlin. "What Spain needs is the confidence of financial markets and that is where Spain has real problems."

Schaeuble dismissed as "dangerous" the idea of giving Spain the full 100 billion euros earmarked for the recapitalisation of its banks if it needs less than that amount.

Regarding Greece, the minister said nobody in the euro zone wanted it to leave the currency bloc but Athens had to prove to the "troika" of international inspectors that it was sticking to the terms of its second international rescue package.

Stressing that it had been "very difficult" to convince European leaders to give Greece another bailout, Schaeuble said: "Nobody wants Greece to leave the euro, but the question is whether it has met the conditions of its second aid programme."

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