Euro area finance ministers agreed early Tuesday on the terms of a bailout for Spain's troubled banks, saying that 30 billion euros can be ready by the end of this month.
The finance ministers for the 17 countries that use the euro as their official currency will return to Brussels on July 20 to finalize the agreement, having first obtained the approval of their governments or parliaments, eurozone chief Jean-Claude Juncker said early Tuesday morning
As part of the agreement with Spain, finance ministers from all 27 European Union countries are expected Tuesday to approve a one-year extension, until 2014, of Spain's deadline for achieving a budget deficit of 3 percent.
There will be specific conditions for specific banks, and the supervision of the financial sector overall will be strengthened, Juncker said.
“We are convinced that this conditionality will succeed in addressing the remaining weakness in the Spanish banking sector,” he said. (AP)