The global cost of the bank bailout has been cut by 5,216 million euros, mainly due to the dividends received by the State for its stake in CaixaBank and the favorable stock market performance of these shares (although they have not yet been sold), according to what the Tribunal de Cuentas announced this Friday.
The oversight body, which despite its name is not part of the Judiciary, has released its fifth audit on the restructuring of the financial system, in which it reviews the impact of the resources mobilized by the Fondo de Reestructuración Ordenada Bancaria (FROB), the Deposit Guarantee Fund and the Bank of Spain.
The report takes as a reference December 31, 2024 and puts the cost at 66,617 million euros. Of this amount, 23,345 million correspond to contributions from the banking sector itself and 43,272 million to the Public Treasury. In the previous audit, with a cutoff date of December 31, 2021, the estimated cost stood at 71,833 million.
The decrease in the cost is attributed, above all, to the accounting revaluation of the FROB's stake in CaixaBank, which amounts to 4,470 million euros. Added to this are the dividends collected, which reach 490 million. Also considered as an element that mitigates the cost are the positive liquidation of hybrid financial products and the income derived from litigation of the Deposit Guarantee Fund, for a total of 177 million.
If CaixaBank maintains this trend, the cost of the bailout will continue to decrease. The FROB accounts corresponding to 2025 include a new stock market revaluation of the stake in CaixaBank for that year of 6,555 million, as well as a complementary dividend of 260 million euros in November 2025 and another interim one in May 2026 of 462 million.
In terms of the type of support, capital injections and liquidity mechanisms, amounting to 52,753 million euros, represent 79% of the total, while the guarantees granted in the entity sale processes, with 13,784 million, account for 21%. Management expenses amount to 105 million euros (0.2% of the total), while financial expenses stand at 2,286 million (3%).
The Court of Auditors details that, as of December 31, 2024, the Public Treasury had borne financial expenses linked to the ESM loan of 2,127 million euros that are not included in the calculation of the cost of the bank restructuring of the entities analyzed. If added to the 1,369 million paid by FROB and incorporated into the cost of the bank restructuring process, the total financial disbursement of the ESM loan for the Spanish State amounts to 3,496 million euros.
Among the most burdensome operations are those relating to BFA/Bankia, with 12,629 million euros; Catalunya Banc (CX), with 12,578 million euros; Banco CAM, with 12,547 million euros; and NovaCaixaGalicia, with 9,140 million euros.