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As of Saturday afternoon, Spain had not asked for help - "but we want to prepare if the call comes," said a spokesman for Luxembourg's prime minister Jean-Claude Juncker, who chairs the meetings of eurozone finance ministers

Spain has come under pressure from the European Central Bank, Germany and Netherlands to move before Greek elections on 17 June, amid fears that political chaos in Greece and the weakness of Spanish banks could threaten the euro's financial stability.

"There is a need to ensure that the euro-area is properly ringfenced and protected from possible Greek fallout and that means strengthening Spain's banks," said an official.

Pressure for eurozone action to stem the escalating crisis was increased by a warning from Moody's overnight that Spain's need for help to refinance its banks and an exit from the euro by Greece could lead to additional credit rating downgrades for the region.

EU sources have indicated that the final deal is unlikely to be agreed until the June 21 meeting of eurogroup of finance ministers in Luxembourg. Negotiations will focus on the terms and conditions of the aid from the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) as Spain resists a full scale EU-IMF bailout programme such as those in Portugal, Ireland or Greece.

However, they will be guided by an International Monetary Fund report published late on Friday saying while Spain's largest banks had enough capital to withstand further deterioration, several banks would need to increase capital buffers by at least €40bn, adding it could be more with restructuring costs and reclassification of loans. The report had been expected on Monday.

Ceyla Pazarbasioglu, Deputy Director of the IMF’s Monetary and Capital Markets Department, said: “Going forward, it will be critical to communicate clearly the strategy for providing a credible backstop for capital shortfalls — a backstop that experience shows it is better to overestimate than underestimate."

Fitch, which cut Spain’s credit rating by three notches on Thursday, estimates the country's banks will need up to €100bn, while JP Morgan said the full requirement could be as much as €350bn.

Vitor Constancio, vice president of the ECB, said: “It is expected that Spain will make a request for assistance, exclusively for bank recapitalisation ... Spanish banks have recapitalisation needs, therefore a solution must be found quickly to calm the markets.”

The euro's existing EFSF bailout fund allows bailouts to be used for banks without a full austerity programme administered by the EU-IMF's troika, dubbed the "men in black" by Spanish ministers.

While Spain, which is regarded by the EU as on track with its economic policies, will escape an unpopular and intrusive troika programme, it will not escape having the EU aid added to its national balance sheet, compounding its fiscal problems.

On Friday, US President Barack Obama demanded European leaders act “right now” in an impatient and forceful message. He said there was “a path out of the crisis” if only leaders would take the “decisive actions” needed.

“The focus must be on strengthening the banks, like we did in 2008,” he said. “EU leaders are in discussions about that and they are going in the right direction.”