Spain raises provisions for banks in clean-up move

MADRID (MarketWatch)
The Spanish government on Friday announced reforms for its banking sector that include raising provisions on loan portfolios, media reports said
Among the measures, coverage on healthy property loans for lenders will rise to 30% from 7%, and will mean an extra 30 billion euros in provisions by banks
Coverage of the banks' total real estate asset and loan portfolios would rise to 45%, reports said Those entities that cannot afford the higher provisions can get public money through a five-year loan at a rate of 10%
The government said it would hire two independent assesors to review bank loan books