S&P says Spain bailout wouldn’t harm credit rating

PanARMENIAN.Net - Rating agency Standard & Poor's says a Spanish request for a bailout to help it through the eurozone's sovereign debt crisis probably would not harm the country's credit rating, AP reports.

Spain is reeling from the collapse of a property boom that forced it to request up to €100 billion in financial aid for its banks, but it has so far resisted pressure to ask for a full national bailout.

Overspending by its semiautonomous regions and a double-dip recession have driven its borrowing costs higher as investors fear the eurozone's fourth largest economy may not be able to pay its debts.

S&P said Wednesday, Aug 22 the terms of any bailout agreement could help Mariano Rajoy's conservative government push through the fiscal and economic reforms Spain needs, bolstering market faith in its economic prospects.