The Bank of Spain says the country's bad loan rate shot up to a record of 9.42 per cent in June, with more than $201.38 billion US in loans to households and businesses at least three months behind in their payments. Spain announced in June its banking sector, hit hard by a collapsed real estate bubble, needed a bailout. Up to $100 billion in money has been made available by the other members of the 17-country group that uses the euro, but has yet to be disbursed. The increase from May was more than $8 billion, the second biggest monthly increase on record. Spain is in its second recession in three years and the jobless rate is almost 25 per cent.
