Spain to discuss ECB aid next week -deputy PM

As Spain's 10-year debt yields fell below 6 percent for the first time since May, Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria stuck to the government line of recent weeks, saying Madrid would look carefully at the ECB offer before making any move.

ECB head Mario Draghi announced the scheme - intended to bring down borrowing costs for struggling euro zone economies - in Frankfurt on Thursday.

He said it would come with "strict and effective" conditions for countries that take it, while in Madrid Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy showed no rush to sign up.

Many analysts believe that Spain could drag its heels on making an aid request under the ECB program if the country's borrowing costs keep falling.

The premium investors demand to hold Spanish debt rather than German benchmark dropped to 423 basis points from a high of around 646 basis points in July.

"I believe that matters which are so relevant for the general interest and the future of the Spanish people should be analyzed calmly and carefully. These decisions can't be taken overnight," Saenz de Santamaria told a news conference after the weekly cabinet meeting.

She said questions over a possible program of purchases of Spanish debt would be discussed during a meeting of euro zone and European Union finance ministers in Cyprus on September 14 and 15.

"I think that it is important to respect these proceedings, which will also give us more certainty about what we are talking about," she said.

A Spanish government source told Reuters on Thursday that Madrid wanted to gauge the full effect of the ECB plan on its interest rates before deciding whether to make a request.

But the country is also facing a big refinancing hump at the end of October when 27.5 billion euros ($34.7 billion) of maturing debt is due, while rating agency Moody's NEXT (NXT.LO)review of Spanish debt is expected by the end of September.

Recession, cash-strapped regions and costly reforms to a banking sector already propped up with the promise of up to 100 billion euros in European aid have already stretched Spain finances to the limit.

(Reporting by Julien Toyer; Editing by Paul Day and John Stonestreet)