FILE - In this Friday, May 18, 2012 file photo a man uses an ATM cash point machine at a branch of the Bankia bank in Madrid. Logo says ' Welcome to Bankia'. Spain's market regulator suspended trading of shares in bailed-out Bankia on Friday May 25, 2012, ahead of a key board meeting at which the lender is expected to decide how much more rescue money it needs from the government. (AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa de Olza, file)
FILE - In this Friday, May 18, 2012 file photo a man uses an ATM cash point machine at a branch of the Bankia bank in Madrid. Logo says ' Welcome to Bankia'. Spain's market regulator suspended trading of shares in bailed-out Bankia on Friday May 25, 2012, ahead of a key board meeting at which the lender is expected to decide how much more rescue money it needs from the government. (AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa de Olza, file)
FILE - In this Monday May 7, 2012 file photo, the Bankia bank headquarters is seen in Madrid. Spain's market regulator suspended trading of shares in bailed-out Bankia on Friday May 25, 2012, ahead of a key board meeting at which the lender is expected to decide how much more rescue money it needs from the government. (AP Photo/Paul White, file)
Bankia's president, Jose Ignacio Goirigolzarri, speaks during a press conference at the bank's headquarters in Madrid, Saturday, May 26, 2012. Spain's troubled bank, Bankia, has asked the Spanish government for 19 billion euro ($23.8 billion) in financial support just as a leading credit rating agency downgraded it to junk status. The request came as Standard & Poor's downgraded Bankia and four other Spanish banks to junk status because of uncertainty over restructuring and recapitalization plans. (AP Photo/Antonio Heredia)
MADRID (AP) ? Concern over the bailout plans for troubled Spanish lender Bankia and the country's ability to finance itself sent the nationalized bank's share price plummeting and Spain's borrowing costs soaring Monday.
Bankia's shares were down 21 percent to ?1.23 after trading following the bank's announcement Friday that it will need ?19 billion ($23.84 billion) in state aid ? the country's biggest bailout ? to shore itself up against its bad loans. The shares had closed at ?1.57 before trading was suspended Friday.
Investor remained nervous over Spain's finances and whether it might soon join the ranks of Greece, Ireland and Portugal and seek an international bailout. The interest rate, or yield, for 10-year bonds on the secondary market ? a key indicator of market confidence in Spain's ability to raise funds ? jumped 17 basis points in morning trade Monday to at 6.46 percent. A rate of 7 percent is considered unsustainable in the long run.
In comparison, Germany's bonds, seen as a safe haven investment, were at 1.38 percent, 508 basis points lower than Spain's.
Trading on Madrid's main Ibex 35 share index was down 1 percent.
Among the chief concerns surrounding Bankia's request for state aid is just how Spain plans to fund the bailout.
Bankia S.A., a fusion of seven cajas ? or savings banks ? was one of the banks hardest hit by Spain's real estate collapse over the past four years. It is estimated to have ?32 billion in toxic assets. The Bank of Spain had already agreed to inject Bankia with ?4.5 billion in rescue funds last June.
The size of the bailout figure came as something of a shock on Friday and opposition political parties are demanding the government explain how the bank got into such a state.
Bank of Spain estimates show Spain's banks are sitting on some ?180 billion ($233 billion) in assets that could cause them losses.
The government fears the cost of rescuing the most vulnerable banks could overwhelm its own finances, which are already strained by a second recession in three years and an unemployment rate of nearly 25 percent.
Spain has long denied it will follow Greece, Ireland and Portugal and seek international help but the conservative government of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has called on the European Central Bank must do more to alleviate its exorbitantly high borrowing costs.
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