THE NEWS: Spain’s finance minister warned that the country’s sky-high borrowing costs will lead to more trouble accessing credit markets.
THE NUMBERS: The interest rate on Spain’s benchmark 10-year bond rate was at 6.31 percent on Tuesday and, although declining, was still very close to the levels that pushed Greece, Ireland and Portugal to ask for bailouts over the past two years.
THE BACKGROUND: Spain has edged closer to financial chaos and many fear that the government might be overwhelmed by the cost of rescuing banks. Those banks hold massive amounts of soured property investments following the bursting of a real estate bubble.
