Thread: Portugal seeks EU bailout due to debt crisis

unavioudable for quite some time and should have been taken sooner

agreed. Its been clear this would be the road for months

the Spanish economy is the key but there hasnt been much coming out on that for awhile . Avoiding a bailout for the Spanish is vital for the continuation of the eurozone, although it may struggle to survive in its current format from some analysis that I have read.

there is significnt exposure for the Spanish banks to Portugese debt and alot of the bailout money will undoubtely be going to the spanish bank bondholders. A portugese default is not an option in th is regard and the bailout is vital for stability to the spanish economy

Moreover, Spanish banks could suffer if Portugal's financial problems worsen. Spain is not only Portugal’s biggest trade partner, it is also its biggest creditor, with Spanish banks holding $78 billion of Portuguese debt, according to the Bank for International Settlements.

from an old article - see below

Spain’s banks already have enough problems, but the exposure to Portugal could just turn into the wild cart which upturns the whole apple cart,” said Edward Hugh, an independent economist based in Barcelona

as I said the bailout will insure against that
2 above quotes from - Markets digest Irish bailout

However even with the bailout ensuring that spanish banks are payed, the strong economic relationship between the 2 economies is likely to mean a further deterioration in the spanish economy imo