Spain short-term debt costs climb

Spain paid the second highest yield on short-term debt since the birth of the euro at an auction on Tuesday.

The average yield on the 3-month Spanish bonds was 2.434 percent, up from 2.362 in June, while for the six-month bonds, the yield jumped to 3.691 percent from 3.237 percent last month.

This is while in a secondary market, Spanish five-year government bond yields rose above 10-year yields for the first time since June 2001, a sign that markets think the risk of a default or debt restructuring has increased.

On Monday, the yield on 10-year Spanish government bonds hit euro-era highs after increasing to 7.343 percent from 7.225 percent on Friday.

Spain is now in a catastrophic financial situation similar to that of Greece, Ireland and Portugal, which have been forced to seek international bailouts shortly after their bond-yields exceeded the seven percent threshold.

The prospect of bailing out Spain is worrisome for Europe because the potential cost far exceeds what is available in existing emergency funds.

Spain has already asked for up to 100 billion euros to recapitalize its ailing banks which have been battered by the four year economic downturn and a burst property bubble which has sent mortgages falling every month since August 2007.

The EU member state has been struggling with its ailing economy since the country’s collapse into recession as the result of the global financial crisis roughly five years ago.

PG/JR

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