MADRID, April 7 (Xinhua) -- Economy Minister Elena Salgado on Thursday ruled out any prospect of Spain needing an economic bailout from the European Union.
The fact that neighboring Portugal has been forced to follow Ireland and Greece to ask for financial aid from the EU to deal with their debt crises, has caused some eyes to view Spain as the next sovereign debtor.
Portugal is expected to require around 70-80 billion euros (around 100 billion U.S. dollars). Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates requested the aid on Wednesday after a decade in which increases in borrowing were greater than economic growth, pushing the country's borrowing costs to levels that have become impossible to sustain.
Speaking on National Radio, Salgado insisted the same thing would not happen to Spain.
"Spain is in no danger because Portugal has asked for a rescue package," she said. "Spain is bigger, it is more diverse and it is more productive."
She said the reforms that Spain carried out were far deeper reaching and at a faster pace. Public borrowing, the minister said, had been drastically cut and the public debt is being reduced in line with government and Bank of Spain predictions.
The minister spoke less than 24 hours after Spain lowered its forecast for economic growth in 2012 from 2.5 percent to 2.3 percent and its expectations for 2012 from 2.7 percent to 2.4 percent.
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