Spain became the third Eurozone country to receive a warning from ratings agency Standard & Poor's on Monday (12 January) in a further sign of Europe's economic malaise.

Last Friday, both Ireland and Greece also received warnings from the ratings agency, a development that threatens to make government borrowing for the three states more expensive at a time when governments are increasingly turning to money markets to bolster diminishing tax returns.

Spain became the third Eurozone state Monday to receive a credit warning about it national finances

The Financial Times reports that other countries could also see themselves subject to similar warnings in the coming days or weeks as countries take on record debt levels, in part caused by new spending programmes intended to counteract the ongoing economic crisis.

Italy, with a debt-to-GDP ratio of 104 per cent is seen as particularly vulnerable. So too Portugal, which is currently running a current account deficit of 12 per cent.

Figures announced last week show Spain's industrial output for November to be down 15.1 per cent on the previous year, the biggest fall on record.