Spain bank rescue fund to include all big lenders

By Paul Day

MADRID (Reuters) - The Spanish government's 30-50 billion euro (23.5 billion-39.2 billion pound) fund to buy assets from banks will be available to all major lenders, including credit firms linked with car makers and supermarkets, a government spokeswoman said on Wednesday.

The fund will favour banks and loan companies that are most active in the country's credit market, according to a preliminary proposal under discussion between the main Spanish political parties, an Economy Ministry spokeswoman said.

The Financial Asset Acquisition Fund will acquire high quality assets from lenders as part of a coordinated European effort to provide liquidity to a financial sector paralyzed by the global credit crunch.

The fund could include lenders associated with automobile companies as well as consumer chains such as the supermarket Corte Ingles.

Spain's lenders include the banks and regional savings banks which jointly hold over 80 percent of total loans, as well as co-operatives and consumer credit groups which have no deposit facilities but lend directly to consumers.

France and Germany also announced on Tuesday that their own rescue packages will go beyond banks and include all credit agencies.

In Spain, new car registrations plummeted 32 percent in September from a year earlier, the fifth consecutive month of declines and leading to a accumulated drop in the first nine months of 22 percent.

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