By Paul Day
ZARAGOZA, Spain, Feb 11 (Reuters) - The Spanish government might have to bail out some of the country's savings banks, although such a move is not necessary now, Bank of Spain governor Miguel Angel Fernandez Ordonez said on Wednesday.
"We are now 19 months into the crisis, with various countries bailing out their banks .... Up to now in Spain it has not been necessary, but given the intensity of the crisis, I would not rule anything out," Ordonez said.
It was the strongest declaration by the Bank of Spain on the health of Spain's 45 regional savings banks, which are mainly unlisted. The savings banks are responsible for about half of Spain's loans and in many cases more exposed than other financial institutions to the country's highly leveraged property sector and struggling real estate developers.
While the bad loans ratio for the main Spanish banks stood at between 2 and 4 percent in 2008, the savings banks, including the second-biggest, Caja Madrid, announced levels of over 4 percent and predicted ratios of over 7 percent for 2009.
The managing director of Spain's biggest savings bank, La Caixa, Juan Maria Nin, declined to comment on Ordonez's remarks at a conference on Wednesday.
La Caixa is regarded by analysts as one of the strongest institutions in the country, along with Spain's two biggest banks, Santander and BBVA.
Earlier this month, Caja Madrid Chairman Miguel Blesa ruled out government intervention in the banks.
In contrast with the situation in other European countries, the Spanish government has not had to inject capital into any banks, thanks to tight regulation by the Bank of Spain during the country's boom years.
However, both the government and the Bank of Spain have warned that consolidation in the financial sector is likely.
The head of the savings banks association, Jose Ramon Quintas, told Reuters in an interview in December that consolidation could be beneficial but that rules impeding tie-ups between the savings banks in different regions and local politics are making it harder for this process to happen. (Reporting by Paul Day; additional reporting by Judy MacInnes; editing by Simon Jessop)