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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.
Pedro Sánchez and Charles Michel

Spanish Politics 3rd July 2023

Spain takes over rotating EU presidency pending July 23rd election result

On July 1, Spain assumed the six-month presidency of the EU, and yesterday, Sunday July 2, the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, met at La Moncloa with the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, who has begun the six-month period with a trip to Kiev. Sánchez reiterated Europe’s support for Ukraine and assured that Spain “will rise to the occasion”. In an institutional declaration, Sánchez reviewed the four priorities…

RepsolImaz

Relevant News Item 3rd July 2023

“An electric car in Germany today emits more CO2 than a diesel or a petrol car. That’s the reality, because 50% of electricity is generated with coal”

The CEO of Repsol, Josu Jon Imáz, took part on June 22 in a debate organised by the newspaper El Correo, and took the opportunity to warn of the hypocrisy, inefficiency and paradoxes of European energy policy.For example, in Spain it is forbidden – by law – to explore for and produce natural gas “and at the same time we are encouraging companies to bring gas from the United States,…

NHhoteles

Relevant News Item 2nd July 2023

NH Hoteles estimates 2Q23 revenues to exceed €100m, same figure as in 2Q19

Alphavalue / Divacons| The hotel chain held its General Shareholders’ Meeting yesterday. The Executive Vice Chairman and CEO of the group, Ramón Aragonés, told the meeting that the revenue estimate for 2Q23 will exceed the figure for the same quarter of 2019 by more than €100 million. In addition, they expect EBITDA to grow between April and June, driven by good results in key markets, both in the leisure and…

euro area 777x400 1

European economy 1st July 2023

Eurozone on brink of recession

Martin Wolburg (Generali Investments)| The eurozone entered a technical recession during the winter half-year. However, indicators suggest that activity expanded again thereafter. Looking ahead to the second half of the year, however, we expect activity to moderate again, bringing the eurozone to the brink of recession. The main headwinds come from the global environment, which keeps manufacturing industry on a downward trajectory. At the same time, financing conditions will continue…

vivienda

Spanish economy 1st July 2023

Spain approves €2.5 billion loan facility for first-time house buyers

Bankinter Spain approves a new line of guarantees from the Official Credit Institute (ICO) of €2,500M to help young people under 35 years of age and families with dependent children without age limit with an individual income of up to €37,800 per year to pay the down payment on their first home. The guaranteeable loan may be up to 100% of the lower value between the assessment and the purchase…

Eurozona IPC

European economy 30th June 2023

Eurozone inflation slows in June to 5.5% from 6.1%, but core inflation rises to 5.4% from 5.3% in May, reinforcing ECB’s stance

The year-on-year inflation rate in the euro zone fell six tenths in June compared to the previous month, reaching 5.5%, compared to 6.1% in May, which is the lowest increase in prices since January 2022, according to preliminary data published Friday by Eurostat. The moderation in the rise in prices in June is mainly due to the 5.6% fall in the cost of energy, compared with the 1.8% drop in…

ECB night

European economy 30th June 2023

Spain -1.8%; Italy -0,9%… Bank lending starts to fall in peripheral countries

A further slowdown in lending to the private sector in May, already contracting in the peripheral countries. The ECB published yesterday the data on lending to the private sector in the Eurozone, where it confirms the progressive slowdown in bank lending to +2.7% year.on.year in May vs. +3.5% in April and a peak of +6.5% in September last year, so that it is already slightly below its pre-pandemic levels of…

ley hipotecaria

Spanish economy 30th June 2023

Spain’s mortgage portfolio to fall by 1.7% this year and not recover until 2026

Alphavalue / Divacons| Spain’s mortgage portfolio will fall by 1.7% this year and will not recover to the levels seen in 2022 until 2026, according to a report by the consultancy firm EY published on Monday. Specifically, the professional services firm estimates that the outstanding balance of the Spanish mortgage portfolio will end the year down 1.7% to 484,000 million euros. In the coming years it will grow again, but…

inflacion cesta

Spanish economy 29th June 2023

Council of Ministers extends some anti-inflation measures until 31 December

Bankinter: This is the seventh package of anti-crisis measures worth some €3.8 billion, bringing the measures for the second half of the year to €8.9 billion. Of note are: (1) the maintenance until the end of the year of the reduction in VAT on staple foods (to 0% from 4% for bread, eggs, fruit and vegetables) and to 5% from 10% for other products such as pasta and oils. This…

Sintra BCE

World economy 29th June 2023

Lagarde, Powell, Bailey agree central banks are data dependent

Bankinter | After the monetary policy panel with Lagarde (ECB), Powell (Fed), Bailey (BoE) and Ueda (BoJ), the messages of the last meetings were maintained, as expected. Lagarde, Powell and Bailey recalled that central banks are data dependent, that they take decisions “meeting by meeting” and that their work is not yet finished. Lagarde referred to a hike in July as quite likely, but did not give any guidelines for…