The ratio of bad loans held by Spanish banks in April, standing at 8.72 percent, hit a record since April 1994, said Bank of Spain (BOE) on Monday.

The figure means the total amount of non-performing loans in Spain rose to 152.74 billion euros (193 billion U.S. dollars).

The ratio, up from 8.37 percent in March, was only slightly below the all-time high in February 1994, when the proportion reached 9.15 percent of the total.

It was also in this week that the independent auditors appointed by the government of Mariano Rajoy are due to give the first results of their audit of Spain's banks.

The result of the audit will help determine the amount of money Spain will require from its EU bailout, which was requested by Rajoy just over a week ago. It is expected that Spain will need around 100 billion euros (136 billion dollars) from the EU in order to assure the financial security of its banks.

Spain's banks were badly exposed to bad debt as a result of the collapse of the construction boom and the housing market in the economic crisis.

Housing sales and prices have dropped dramatically since 2007, leaving many constructions standing empty, forcing many construction companies into liquidation and leaving the country's banks with toxic assets.