Spain an “insurmountable dam protecting the euro zone”

”Everyone says that Spain has carried out the reforms that it had to do, and it's that which makes the situation (in Spain) different“ from that in Portugal, Deputy Prime Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba.

”We have gone from being another domino to being a dam, an insurmountable dam, which is protecting the Euro zone, and this has been the result of the reforms that we have undertaken,“ he told a news conference following a cabinet meeting.

His comments came as EU finance ministers meeting in Hungary thrashed out a multi-billion-dollar debt rescue for Portugal, demanding tough conditions as they try to draw a line under a destabilizing debt crisis.

The pressures on Portugal had raised doubts about other weak Euro zone members including Spain, the Euro zone's fourth largest economy. Any such bailout would be bigger than those of Greece, Ireland and Portugal combined, possibly threatening the whole Euro zone project.

Source: MercoPress