Spanish mortgages at all-time low as Euribor set to remain at 0.25 per cent

This is partly fuelled by a fall in gross domestic product within member States which use the euro, and low inflation at 0.8 per cent rather than the predicted 0.9 per cent.

The top three economies in the Eurozone – France, Germany and Italy – saw a retraction in growth and with the exception of Germany, continue in recession.

Unemployment in the region remained at 12.1 per cent as at November 2013, a record high which has barely moved since April last year and which is far exceeded by Greece (27.4 per cent) and Spain (26.7 per cent).

BCE chairman Mario Draghi said medium-term forecasts for the Eurozone had worsened, as had short-term conditions in the money markets.

He announced that the BCE was 'ready to act if necessary' and to apply 'all available legal and financial instruments' permitted by the Maastricht Treaty to support credit flow and the money markets.

The reduced Eurozone interest rate, or Euribor, will mean mortgages and loan repayments sit at an all-time low and any which are due for revaluation for the first time since before November will reduce.

Although borne out of poor circulation of money and non-existent consumer spending, the cut in the Euribor will be a godsend for Spanish homeowners with mortgages this year as they struggle to make ends meet in the face of the second-worst unemployment record in Europe and increasingly climbing costs of living.