The next chapter of the “Catalan saga” was revealed today. Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has now warned that on Saturday article 155 of the Constitution will be implemented to suspend Catalonia’s autonomy. And amid this endless craziness, Puigdemont says that if this finally happens, the declaration of independence will be declared.
Justin Irving | A banal assertion is often made in the financial press when trade deficit figures are released. If the deficit widens, the financial media will tell you that this is bad for the current-quarter GDP number. If the deficit narrows, you’ll hear the opposite.
In 2016, Spain was once again the European country which received the most funding from the European Investment Bank (EIB), for a total of 11.5 billion euros, in terms of investment per unit of GDP or, in other words, in relation to the size of its economy.
It was expected Draghi to avoid any discussion of early exit from QE and he did so. The ECB’s president stuck to the December line. “Self sustained”, not “transient” inflation is wanted. Still, things may complicate this spring.
The British community in Spain is the largest in the EU: there are 297,000 Britons resident in Spain, according to January data from the National Statistics Institute. After the political earthquake created by Brexit, a large part of this community is now seeking dual nationality from the Spanish government to protect their rights as European citizens. For this to happen, there will have to be a change in the Spanish law.
Following the oil price slump, both wealthy countries will relatively see their privileged economic position trimmed, but they can still capitalize on their status as oil producers, boosting production to defend market share and leading the European M&A market, respectively.
After the IMF warned about the structural reasons behind the emerging economies’ slowdown, José Luis Herrera, Spanish analyst at CMC Markets, talks about possibles solutions for commodities’ producers.
While Yellen bet on increasing rates, China’s slowdown concerns Draghi, but he is not considering further stimulus for the time being, says Gabriel Marqués at Intermoney.
Lehman Brothers’ collapse became a milestone representing the official start of the ongoing long economic crisis. Subprime mortgages had failed years before, then afterwards the crisis fuelled different situations such as the European bail-ins. Today marks seven years after the event. The risk from “too big to fail entities” remains.
The slowdown in oil prices affects all producer countries, both emerging and developed, whether Brazil, Mexico, Norway or the United States. The difference with the 90s is that EM are now much more solid.