MADRID - The president of troubled Spanish lender Bankia says the €23.5 billion ($29.5 billion) in state aid it will receive in the country's biggest-ever bank bailout will be treated as an investment to make profit for the Spanish government and not as a loan.
In a statement released Sunday, Jose Ignacio Goirigolzarri appeared to be trying to reassure markets after the press questioned what he meant by comments the day before that "we don't need to talk about giving any of it back."
He says Bankia's responsibility is not to return that capital, but "to generate value and profitability for that contribution."
Bankia is stuck with the €32 billion ($40 billion) in toxic assets on its books from loans in the property sector before the real estate bubble burst.
