EU Won’t Let Finn Collateral Derail Greek Rescue, Salgado Says

Euro-region governments can’t let Finnish demands for collateral derail a second rescue package for Greece, Spanish Finance Minister Elena Salgado said, as she predicted nations will approve the rescue in September.

Spain doesn’t deem collateral “necessary,” and won’t seek it, Salgado said in an interview last night in Madrid. It’s not “reasonable” that a collateral agreement in return for 109 billion euros ($157 billion) in new loans to Greece would be offered to just one euro-region country, she said. A voluntary formula, not necessarily based on the Finnish plan, could be adopted for countries that want extra protection.