REUTERS, EL PAIS (Spain)
Euro zone ministers struggled to reassure financial markets on Tuesday that an aid package for Spain they outlined overnight will help stabilize the currency bloc, Reuters reports.
The Spanish daily El Pais called the decisions taken overnight by the euro zone partners in Brussels "a soft intervention in the economy," while Spanish Economy Minister Luis de Guindos was quoted as saying "It is a very, very positive agreement." Still, investors appeared disappointed the meeting did not offer more, and remained jittery through morning trading on Tuesday.
El Pais summed up the decisions taken in Brussels in four main points:
-the Euro group will sign an agreement on July 20th;
-the troubled Spanish banks will receive 30 billion euros before the end of July, in what will be the first instalment of a Spanish bailout of up to 100 billion euros which was agreed on in June;
-the euro zone is asking for important fiscal measures in Spain, including an increase in sales tax rates;
-Representatives of the EC/ECB/IMF "Troika" will come to Madrid every three months.
