MADRID —Spain’s prime minister appealed Tuesday for European leaders to push toward greater fiscal unity — a step that would allow its troubled banks to get direct financial help — while a top government official warned that the country’s high borrowing costs meant it faced increasing trouble accessing credit markets.
Mariano Rajoy told a Senate session that Europe “needs to support those that are in difficulty.”
“It needs fiscal integration with a fiscal authority and banking integration, a banking union with eurobonds, a banking supervisor and a European guaranteed deposit fund.”
At a summit June 28, the European Commission and the European Central Bank are expected to present measures at the meeting for creating a “banking union” that would oversee banks and possibly offer bailouts directly
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Spain’s most stricken lender, Bankia S.A., needs $23.63 billion in government aid, but Spain has only $6.22 billion left in a fund it established in 2009.
