MADRID - The eurozone's agreement to provide a rescue loan to Spain's stricken banks secured the 'credibility of the euro,' Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said Sunday.

"Yesterday, the credibility of the euro won," he told a news conference the day after eurozone ministers agreed to provide Spain a loan of up to 100 billion euros (S$160 billion) to cover losses at its banks.

Rajoy insisted that Spain had not caved in to pressure from other nations and the financial markets, which sent Spain's borrowing costs soaring on concerns over its banks and mushrooming debt.

"Nobody pressured me and I don't know if I should say this, but it was I who pressured for a line of credit," said Rajoy, who 13 days earlier had categorically denied any need for a banking rescue.

The Spanish leader insisted his government's reforms since taking power in December had averted the need for a broader state bailout.

"If we had not done what we have done in the past five months, the proposal yesterday would have been a bailout of the kingdom of Spain," he said.