MADRID, Spain _ Spain will start paying back early part of the 41 billion-euro ($55 billion) aid package it received from the European Union in 2012 to prop up ailing banks and prevent the nation from descending into financial chaos.
Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria says Spain will pay back 1.3 billion euros ($1.8 billion) soon. Payments were not due on the rescue funding until 2022.
Spain's banks were hit hard with bad loans and saddled with property after a prolonged real estate boom burst. With fears mounting that the country's financial system could collapse, the EU approved the aid package.
Saenz de Santamaria made the announcement Friday and said the government also approved an economic stimulus package it hopes will generate a benefit of 11 billion euros ($15 billion).