Spain to receive EUR 39.5 bln European bailout

Europe's Permanent Bailout Fund agreed Tuesday to offer financial assistance to Spanish banks amounting to 39.5 billion Euros. The funds will be channeled to Spain's nationalized banks through the banks restructuring fund in response to a request tabled by the Spanish government to the Permanent Bailout Fund late last week, the state-run TV reported tonight. The funds will be pumped later to the four nationalized banks as follows: Bankia - 17.96 billion euros, Catalunya Banc - 9.8 billion, Banco de Valencia - 4.5 billion, and Novagalicia Banco - 5.4 billion. A total of 2.5 billion euros are set aside for bailing out the country's bad bank, a financial institution created to hold non-performing assets owned by a state-guaranteed bank, according to the report. On June 24 the Spanish government requested a bailout from its European partners amounting to 100 billion euros in a bid to restructure its financial sector and restore confidence of investors in the economy.