–But No Help On An Individual Bank Basis

MALAGA, Spain (MNI) – The European Central Bank stands ready to
provide assistance to the banking system should the results of stress
tests show there is such a need, ECB Executive Board member Jose Manuel
Gonzalez Paramo said here today.

However, such need would be systemic and not an individual bank
basis, he stressed.

Paramo characterized the publication of stress test results in
Europe as a “positive” development and said the ECB would coordinate the
presentation of results for European banks.

Asked whether Spain’s banks were overly dependent on financing from
the ECB, Paramo replied that he couldn’t say.

He acknowledged the challenges facing the Eurozone, saying “this is
a crucial moment in the history of the euro.” However, “the euro will
survive,” he declared.

Paramo also said Spain has some distance to go to reform its labor
system.

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