Spain's job-destroying recession is set to ease in the second quarter of 2013 as activity improves, the Bank of Spain said on Wednesday, adding its voice to an optimistic chorus emerging from the government.
A Spanish judge ordered Thursday the release from jail of the former head of Spanish savings bank Caja Madrid, who is under investigation for alleged mismanagement at the lender, a judicial source said.
The weight of bad loans held by Spain's banks grew in April, the Bank of Spain said on Tuesday, a sign of the difficulties facing the bailed-out banking sector.
A Spanish court on Wednesday ordered the detention of the former head of the savings bank Caja Madrid who is under investigation over alleged mismanagement, three weeks after he was released on bail after spending a night in prison.
Spain unveiled plans on Friday to tighten the rein on the regional savings banks blamed for triggering its financial crisis, the latest step in an overhaul of its bailed-out banking sector.
Global credit rating agency Moody's warned on Friday that Spain's battered banks face a grim outlook even after a European-funded rescue, with high levels of bad assets set to worsen "significantly" in the recession.
The burden of bad loans held by Spanish banks shot up again in January, after a brief blip in December which saw the ratio ease for the first time in 17 months.
