Spain's Finance Minister: No plans for bailout

Spain's Finance Minister has said the country will not be seeking an EU-IMF bailout.

In an interview published today, Elena Salgado emphatically ruled out Madrid's seeking a rescue package along the lines of the Irish bailout.

Salgado said that Spain intended to pay its share - about 12.5% - of a rescue for Ireland.

She also called for a "major economic and fiscal integration" of the states which share the euro over the long term, but stressed that the immediate priority was reducing imbalances between eurozone countries.

Investors have become increasingly concerned about Spanish banks in the wake of the Irish rescue package.