Ireland yesterday bowed out of the race to take one of the top jobs at the European Central Bank.

The Government is to nominate Central Bank governor Philip Lane to become Ireland’s first ever vice-president of the European Central Bank.

As Jeroen Dijsselbloem’s turbulent reign over eurozone’s finance ministers’ meetings comes to an end, horse-trading for his succession between the bloc’s countries and political groups is about to heat up.

Bosses at Caixabank have agreed to move its base from Barcelona to the eastern city of Valencia, outside Spain's Catalonia region.

The eurozone economy notched up modest growth in the final three months of last year, showing the bloc has little muscle to shrug off the globe’s mounting economic problems.

China’s stock-market rout that erased $5 trillion (€4.48tn) in value is close to ending, according to the nation’s central bank governor.

Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras is banking on a political deal to save his country with just days to go to prevent default.

Germany and the European Commission slapped down talk of a third financial rescue for Greece as premature, after Spain once again suggested yesterday that a new aid package for Athens was almost inevitable.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has emerged as clear favourite for the key post of president of the European Council when EU leaders meet for a special summit tomorrow, several sources familiar with the selection process said.

Germany last night warned Ireland that looking for lower interest rates and longer maturity on its bailout, similar to the deal for Greece, would be “disastrous”.

Hundreds of thousands of people across Europe joined demonstrations or went on strike today as they demanded that governments stop cutting benefits and create more employment.

Finance ministers and central bank governors from the world’s leading economies met in Mexico on Sunday amid growing fears over the global impact of Europe’s debt crisis and the stalemate over a fiscal plan in the US.

Spain is ready to request a eurozone bailout for its public finances as early as next weekend but Germany has signalled that it should hold off, European officials said yesterday.

Tens of thousands of people from all over the country converged on Spain’s capital to hold a large anti-austerity demonstration today.

By Ann Cahill, Irish Examiner European Correspondent

Spain’s ailing banks are unlikely to need all of the €100bn which was made available by the country’s euro partners, Spanish economy minister Luis de Guindos said.

Spain overhauled its banks for the fifth time in three years yesterday in order to secure up to €100bn in European aid for lenders crushed by bad loans resulting from the country’s extended property market crash.

Spain has time to wait for clarity on what a full European rescue would involve as it has already covered the majority of its debt needs for the year, economy minister Luis de Guindos said yesterday.

Hopes for a quiet summer recess, giving much needed time to Spain to organise its broke banks, are fast receding, with many expecting the country to need a bailout and warnings that France could be dragged into the mire.

World equity markets sold off and the euro set new two-year lows against the dollar yesterday after reports that more indebted regions in Spain need financial aid fuelled fears that the country may need a bailout.

German chancellor Angela Merkel yesterday dashed any lingering hope in financial markets that Europe would issue common eurozone bonds to underpin its single currency after Spain formally sought a financial rescue.

It has been reported that Spain has formally requested up to €100bn in financial assistance for its banking sector.

Spain will present its official request for an EU bailout for its banks over the weekend but failed to convince all eurozone countries that the loan should not have preferential creditor status — a prospect blamed for the country’s euro-era record borrowing costs.

Spain’s troubled banks could need as much as €62bn in new capital, independent auditors have calculated.

Investors expect Spain to become the fourth euro member to need external funding as borrowing costs surge to levels too punitive for the nation to finance its needs on capital markets.

Irish economists have advised Spanish authorities awaiting the results of stress tests on their banking system to “imagine the worst and double it”.

Spain and Italy promised new measures to repair their public finances as their borrowing costs raised new alarm ahead of a cliffhanger Greek election.

Spain ate humble pie and became the fourth and largest country to ask Europe to rescue its failing banks.

Spain will ask for a bank bailout from the eurozone, becoming the fourth and largest country to seek help since the single currency bloc's debt crisis erupted.

Germany and European Union officials are urgently exploring ways to rescue Spain’s debt-stricken banks, although Madrid has not yet requested assistance and is resisting being placed under international supervision.

Spanish and Italian government bonds rallied, paring a slump for the week, on speculation the ECB will buy the securities to help prevent the eurozone from disintegrating.

The eurozone should move to a banking union and consider directly recapitalising banks from its permanent bailout fund, the European Commission said in annual economic recommendations that shone a critical light on Spain.

Conservative Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy insisted today that the country’s banking sector would not need an international rescue as concern over the bailout of nationalised lender Bankia sent its stock price plummeting while Spain’s borrowing costs soared.

Spain’s market regulator has suspended trading of shares in bailed-out lender Bankia ahead of a board meeting of the bank that is expected to decide on the amount of money it needs from the government.

Spain’s banks do not need to be bolstered with European money as suggested by France, the country’s economy minister said today.

A solution to Spain’s massive bank problems gaining support in the EU would offer Ireland an opportunity to cut the cost of our bank debts, Finance Minister Michael Noonan has said.

Spain will force banks to increase provisions against real estate loans by about €30bn and will hire two auditors to value lenders’ assets in a fourth attempt to clean up the industry.

EU finance ministers yesterday struggled to reach a deal on forcing banks to set aside more capital to cushion future losses, with Spain saying the bloc had to dispel doubts about the strength of its lenders.

The ISEQ index dropped 2.35 points yesterday to close at 3,139.34. Eurozone debt fears have resurfaced, with Spain the main focus of the concern.

Worries about Spain’s finances are intensifying as the country’s bond yields on international markets rose despite expectations of a new round of austerity measures.

European shares fell to a two-month low yesterday after a Spanish debt sale failed to reach its targets reigniting fears that the eurozone sovereign debt crisis could spark further national bailouts.

Spain will be forced to make massive cutbacks next year to bring its budget into line with strict new EU rules, despite missing targets for two years, eurozone ministers decided last night.

Spain drew solid demand for its debt yesterday, easily shifting what it wanted to sell at a bond auction, although concerns about Greece’s second bailout and the fragility of some of the eurozone’s riskier economies pushed financing costs higher.