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Articles by The Corner

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The Corner
The Corner has a team of on-the-ground reporters in capital cities ranging from New York to Beijing. Their stories are edited by the teams at the Spanish magazine Consejeros (for members of companies’ boards of directors) and at the stock market news site Consenso Del Mercado (market consensus). They have worked in economics and communication for over 25 years.
full employment

In Spain 23rd January 2024

Almost 294,000 precarious civil servants “emerge” as Government raises public employment by 10%

The number of public administration workers has risen by 10.7%. This is after the statistics compiled by the Civil Service Department added 294,000 workers with temporary or very short-term interim contracts, as well as trainees. Although the adjustment was made when these competences depended on the Ministry of Finance, it only became known when they were transferred to the Ministry of Digital Transformation, headed by José Luis Escrivá. The new…

IAG new

Spanish economy 22nd January 2024

IAG to invest €6 billion in Spain over next five years to introduce new lower-emission aircraft, among other goals

Link Securities| The holding company IAG plans to invest €6 billion in Spain over the next five years to renew its fleet and advance its commitment to decarbonisation, Expansión newspaper reported on Friday. This is one of the messages conveyed by the airline group’s CEO, Luis Gallego, to Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez at their meeting in La Moncloa. IAG has already invested another €5 billion in the last five years….

Spain real estate

In Spain 22nd January 2024

Home sales in Spain fall by 15.1% in November, 9.3% for year as a whole

Alphavalue / Divancons| Home sales and purchases recorded a 15.1% drop last November compared to the same period last year, to a total of 46,888 transactions, their lowest figure for this month since 2020, against a backdrop of higher interest rates. These figures put the annual cumulative fall in transactions up to November at 9.3%. By type, 19% of the dwellings transferred by sale and purchase were new and 81%…

eurozone quarantine

European economy 22nd January 2024

Eurozone government debt falls to 89.9% of GDP, deficit moderates to 2.8%

CdM| Eurozone government debt has fallen to 89.9% of GDP in the third quarter of 2023. According to data from Eurostat, the EU’s statistical office, this figure reflects a fall of four tenths of a percentage point from the figure for the second quarter of last year (90.3%), while the public deficit fell to 2.8% from 3% in the previous quarter. In the European Union, government debt also declined from…

aena airport

Spanish economy 22nd January 2024

Minister for Transport and Sustainable Mobility sees Aena being authorised to raise airport taxes by 4.09% as “inexorable”

Link Securities| The Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, Óscar Puente, sees it as “inexorable” that Aena (AENA) will be authorised to raise airport taxes by 4.09% as of 1 March, according to the newspaper Expansión. “It is a listed company and we must apply the rules that we have given ourselves, for legal certainty”, he said during his speech at an event of the New Economy Forum. This increase,…

Spain's banking sector

Spanish economy 22nd January 2024

Spanish banks’ profitability rises to 11.92% in 3Q23, now at all-time high, says Bank of Spain

CdM | Spanish banks achieved an annualised return on equity of 12.3% in the third quarter of 2023, compared to 11.92% in the previous quarter and 10.25% in the same quarter of 2022, according to supervisory statistics on credit institutions published on Friday by the Bank of Spain, and reported by Europa Press. This profitability figure is still far from the 14.88% recorded in the first quarter of 2021, although…

naturgy

Spanish economy 22nd January 2024

Naturgy chairman praises Blackrock: “there is alignment of interests and long-term vision”

Alphavalue/DIVACONS| The president of the energy company, Francisco Reyes, praised Blackrock for giving stability to the companies and affirmed that “there is alignment of interests and long-term vision”. He said this in an interview on Thursday at the 54th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos (Switzerland) and in the wake of Blackrock’s acquisition of the US fund Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), which owns a 20% stake in…

BBVA

Spanish economy 20th January 2024

BBVA chairman says banking tax is damaging economy and confirms 40-50% payout

Link Securities| The chairman of BBVA (BBVA), Carlos Torres, said that the bank tax damages the Spanish economy and should not exist, because it negatively affects the volume of loans and reduces GDP growth, in an interview with the newspaper Expansión, on the occasion of the World Economic Forum in Davos (Switzerland). The executive defends that the Spanish banking sector is efficient and competitive and does not enjoy extraordinary profits….

bank of japan

World economy 20th January 2024

BoJ to remain on hold in January with no confidence on wage growth after earthquake emergency

Alicia Garcia Herrero & Kohei Iwahara (Natixis) | On the New Year’s Day, a strong earthquake hitting the Noto Peninsula created havoc, including Japan’s supply chain. Even if the Hokuriku region did not suffer from a major power failure, in contrasts with Fukushima’s disaster in 2011, disruptions are still relevant. Even if the area being hit this time is small, 4.0% share of Japan’s GDP, it has factories producing semiconductors,…

World map

World economy 19th January 2024

The world is more than 20 times as indebted as it was 25 years ago. What will the new normal be?

Julio López (Attutude Gestión SGIIC) |Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 in C minor was first performed in 1808, but gained particular prestige during World War II. The British noticed that the famous opening theme (da-da-da-dum) had the same rhythm as the letter V in Morse code (. . . …) so the symphony became a symbol of victory over Nazism: the BBC always began its broadcasts to occupied Europe with those…