Spain banks may need to raise money to meet provisions: Rajoy

Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy on Wednesday said the country's banks may have to raise capital on the financial markets to meet higher provisioning requirements.

Rajoy, who was speaking at a news conference following a summit of European leaders in Brussels, said however that Spain would not need to tap more European funds on top of the 41-billion-euro ($53 billion) bailout it sought last year for its banks.

"In the case that it would be needed, I don't think it would have to come from the European Stability Mechanism. If there is a need to book provisions, I believe it could be done by tapping (financial) markets," Rajoy told journalists.

"In any case, we're talking about a very small amount and I am not worried whatsoever by this issue," he added. ($1 = 0.7766 euros)

(Writing by Julien Toyer, Editing by Sarah White)