Spain's capital outflow reaches €541.3m in June

Spain reported a capital outflow of 541.3 million euros (714.47 million US dollars) in June, according to last data published on Friday by the Bank of Spain. In annual terms, this figure is 104 times less than that of June 2012, when the country registered an outflow of 56.631 billion euros, while on a monthly basis the figure is considerably below the outflow registered in May, a total of 5.057 billion euros. Spain had registered six consecutive months of capital inflow, from September 2012 to April 2013 when the inflow of capital reached 1.95 billion euros, however this positive trend broke in March when there was an outflow of capital of 5.168 billion euros. In 2012, the country registered an outflow of capital of 179.221 billion euros, which meant a 1.44 percent increase when compared with 2011. 2012 was a difficult year for Spain as the government asked for a bailout in June to recapitalize the country's banks, while rumors of a sovereign bailout did not disappear easily. Meanwhile, the Spanish Banking Association reported on Friday Spanish banks had improved their profits, earning a 67 percent more in the first semester of 2013 (5.310 billion euros) than in the same period of 2012. (1 euro = 1.32 U.S. dollar)