SPAIN raised nearly 4 billion euros (US$5.3 billion) yesterday in an oversubscribed auction of three- and six-month bonds, as Parliament prepared to pass an austere 2011 budget designed to shore up public finances.

Finance Minister Elena Salgado insisted that Spain will have no financing troubles next year, aiming to quell market fears that Spain might follow Greece and Ireland in needing a bailout. The government also released figures showing its deficit-reducing austerity measures and tax hikes are working.

In the last auction of this year, Spain's Treasury yesterday sold 3 billion euros in three-month bonds at an average interest rate of 1.8 percent. It also sold 877 million euros in six-month bonds at an average interest rate of 2.6 percent.