Spain's Economy Minister has said a ''bad bank'' being set up to allow lenders to offload bad investments will be 55% privately-owned.
Speaking in Parliament today, Minister Luis de Guindos said the stake in the bad bank would be offered to private sector companies.
They might hope to turn around the bad investments and eventually make profits
De Guindos defended Spain's banks, saying an independent audit last week showed "70% of the financial sector is in condition to handle a severely stressed situation."
The audit said seven banks hardest hit by the 2008 collapse of the property market will need another €59.3 billion to survive a severe downturn.
The minister said Spain will tap a "greatly inferior" amount from its €100 billion euro zone rescue loan.
