The board of directors of Spain's troubled lender, Bankia, says it has agreed to ask for €19 billion ($23.8 billion) in state funds.
In a statement released late Friday the bank's president, Jose Ignacio Goirigolzarri, said the recapitalization "reinforced the solvency, liquidity and solidity of the bank."
The decision came on the same day as credit rating agency Standard & Poor's downgraded Bankia and four other Spanish banks to junk status because of uncertainty over restructuring and recapitalization plans.
Trading in Bankia shares was suspended Friday while its board determined how much new aid was needed.
The bank's shares have been whipped about violently in recent weeks on fears it could succumb to the massive losses it has built up in in bad loans in the country's collapsed real estate sector.
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