Spanish economy

budget2021 amendments

Finance Ministry Optimistic… With The Highest Public Deficit In Europe (6.9%)

Fernando González Urbaneja | The Finance Minister, always cheerful and confident, has presented the budget execution for 2021 with her usual optimism. The deficit stands at 6.9%, three points less than the previous year, a point and a half less than the government’s forecast. The minister gives herself a good mark, a top A, and the media receive the data with not a little optimism, 28% less than the previous…


Grifols

Grifols shares rose 10% amid rumours of a possible bid from Private Equity firms

Renta 4 | According to website Betaville, there would be some Private Equity groups interested in acquiring the Spanish pharmaceutical firm. On Wednesday afternoon, Class A shares in Grifols (GRF) but especially those of Class B, plus the ADRs rose sharply (up to 10%). That said, the ADR ended up losing almost half of the gains. Behind the surge in the share price was the fact that Betaville suggested that…


pensioners

Brussels Pressures Spain To Decouple Pensions From The CPI

Brussels’ concern about the unsustainability of Spain’s pension reform is growing. This comes amidst spiralling inflation and at a time when it has to validate Minister Escrivá’s reform to authorise the transfer of 12 billion euros from the second tranche of the Recovery Plan. The government has yet to ask the European Commission for the payment of the second tranche of the Recovery Plan, the largest, almost 12 billion euros….


agri food

And Is It Possible To Decouple The CPI (9.8%)?

Fernando González Urbaneja | The CPI for March (+3%), which raises the year-on-year rate to 9.8%, is an outstanding fact, a major one, enough to stop the machines and turn to Saint Ignatius and his existential questions: where are we and where are we going? The cold data, released by the INE, coincides with the presentation in Congress of the urgent shock measures adapted by the government to deal with…


Merlin Properties

Merlin Properties opens the door to a downwards revision of its targets for 2022 in the event the war in the Ukraine drags on

Renta 4 | During the Iberian Reit event held yesterday, D. Ismael Clemente (CEO of Merlin Properties) opened the door to a downwards revision of 2022 targets in the event the war in the Ukraine drags on. In this respect, although he believes that 2022 will be a positive year for the company, the increased growth expected for this year could be delayed until 2023 or 2024. That said, for…


Spanish mortgages market

The Average Spanish Mortgage: 141,000 Euros, 24 Years And 70% At A Fixed Rate (2.69%)

The number of mortgages taken out on homes increased by 29.4% last January compared with the same month of 2021, to 36,185 loans. However, despite exceeding the figure of a year earlier, the volume of homes mortgaged in January this year has remained below the more than 40,000 that were signed in January 2020, before the pandemic. According to data released on Monday by the National Institute of Statistics (INE),…


Government

Sánchez Puts The Cost Of The War Response Plan To Be Approved By The Government Tuesday At 16 Billion Euros

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez yesterday outlined the main lines of the Shock War Response Plan to be approved today by the Council of Ministers. The plan contains measures until 30 June aimed at cushioning the impact of the crisis on families and businesses. The plan is worth 16 billion euros: 6 billion euros in direct aid and tax reductions, and 10 billion in ICO credits. It has five main pillars:…


Enagas

Enagas will sell its 45.4% stake in Chile’s GNL Quintero for €601 M

Bankinter | GNL Quintero is a Chilean company which owns a terminal for the reception, unloading, storing and regasificationof Liquified Natural Gas (LNG), located in the region of Valparaíso in Chile. The Spanish firm, via its affiliate Enagas Chile, and OMERS Infrastructure have reached an agreement to jointly sell off their respective stakes, which total 80%, in the Chilean company to the consortium formed by EIG and Fluxys. For its…


spain tax collection

Spain: The Maximum Personal Income Tax Rate Now Exceeds 50% In Three Autonomous Communities

The maximum marginal rate of Personal Income Tax (IRPF) now exceeds 50% in three autonomous communities: Valencia (54%), Navarra (52%) and La Rioja (51.5%), which impose a tax on high incomes that exceeds half of the income. And four others have a tax rate of 50%: Asturias (50%), Cantabria (50%), Canary Islands (50.5%), Catalonia (50%), In contrast, the Community of Madrid has established the lowest regional tax bracket in Spain….


LNG regasification ship

Capping Gas Prices Only Delivers Short-Term Respite

J.P. Marín-Arrese | PM Pedro Sánchez bet hard in the recent EU Summit when he pressed for an overhaul of the current marginal cost pricing in the electricity sector. While missing his goal, and rebuked by Germany and Holland, he was given as a consolation prize the promise that Spain and Portugal could cap electricity gas prices on a temporary basis, subject to final scrutiny by Brussels. Decoupling the most…