Qatar may invest €300m in Spanish banks and has discussed investments with Spain’s prime minister, Qatari prime minister Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jabr Al Thani said on Monday.
The prime minister said the move would be to “invest in these companies and capitalise them”.
“We have confidence in the Spanish economy; the government has taken many positive steps,” Sheikh Thani told reporters on Monday.
He was speaking at a joint conference with Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.
Sheikh Thani is also the head of the Qatar Investment Authority, the Gulf state’s sovereign wealth fund. Qatar’s emir will visit Spain on a state visit in April.
“This will be an important step forward for the Spanish economy and will consolidate confidence,” Zapatero said.
Spain is under intense market scrutiny on concerns banks’ overexposure to a real estate collapse could force Madrid to follow Greece and Ireland and seek an international bailout.
Spain’s banks have mostly been shut out of international wholesale debt markets, with some economists claiming they could be facing a capital shortfall of up to €120bn ($137bn).
Zapatero said the two sides had also agreed on more investment by Qatar in the communications and energy sectors.
Last week, Qatar said it was open to buying stakes in part state-owned British lenders RBS and Lloyds Banking Group
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