The Bank of Spain on Monday published a detailed account of the health of its savings bank sector which showed that at the end of last year, the sector had taken a "very prudent" approach to remedying its underlying problems.

The central bank said the cajas, which are savings banks, had total exposure to the real estate and construction sectors worth €217 billion ($296.8 billion), of which €173 billion stemmed from lending, with the remaining €44 billion accounting for foreclosed assets. "Total