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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.
Eurogrupo Europa chuli

European economy 11th December 2020

The EU Unblocks Recovery Fund In Return For Delaying Rule Of Law Regulation For Hungary And Poland

The European Council has reached an agreement on the Rule of Law Mechanism’s application that convinces Hungary and Poland and the rest of the 25. Thus, the European Commission commits itself not to develop the specific regulation on this Mechanism and not to publish the guidelines that will structure its working until the EU’s Court of Justice has ruled on whether the mechanism is fully in accordance with European law or not. This may take between six months and a couple of years. Aids from the EU recovery fund could begin to flow from June 2021. 

tsb takeover

Ibex, Markets, Spanish economy 11th December 2020

Banco Sabadell Sounds Out Credit Agricole, BNP And Zurich For TSB Sale

After the failed talks on merger with BBVA, the Catalan lender has noted expressions of interest in its UK subsidiary TSB, due to to be sold in 2021 at a price of over 800 million euros. So the bank may be exploring possibilities with Credit Agricole, BNP Paribas or Zurich Insurance Group and other European firms to reach alliances. Market rumours point to the difficulty of transferring TSB at a reasonable price and also flag Banco Santander as one of the candidates to buy it.

Spain industrial production

Spanish economy 11th December 2020

Spain Industrial Production Moderates Its Fall In October And Is Almost Back To The Pre-Crisis Level

The General Index of Industrial Production (IPI) plunged 6.1% in October compared with a year earlier. This was an increase of more than five percentage points on September’s yearly decline (-0.6%) but seasonally adjusted it recorded a year-on-year fall of 1.6% in October, moderating the September decline by 1.5 points (-3.1%). In monthly terms, and within the adjusted series, the index rose by 0.6%, three tenths of a percentage point less than in September. This growth is well off the double-digit increases recorded in May, June and July.

EZforecastok

European economy 10th December 2020

Eurozone-2020 Not Ending Fast Enough

Apolline Menut (AXA IM) | For Eurozone economies, 2020 cannot end soon enough. After a 15.1% decline in the first half of the year and a strong, but partial, rebound in the Q3, the euro area economy is set to contract again in Q4 (-4.1%qoq). The autumn lockdowns triggered by the pandemic’s second wave are less restrictive than in the spring (schools, the public sector and industry remain open this time), and so is our assumption of activity hit (-10% in November on average for the euro area versus around -25% in April). But the euro area will finish the year 8.3 percentage points (ppt) below end-2019 levels and with large dispersion across countries. Virus developments, stringency of restrictions, exposures to the most affected sectors (Exhibit 1) and fiscal supports vary across countries. For that reason, we see German growth shrinking by “only” 6%yoy in 2020, half of the contraction we expect in Spain, and much better than the 7.7% decline we project for the euro area as a whole.

ECB PPEP

Relevant News Item 10th December 2020

ECB Adds Another €500 Billion To Its QE Programme

Azad Zangana (Schroders) | As promised at the previous Governing Council meeting, the European Central Bank (ECB) has today announced additional stimulus to aid the economic recovery. This follows the new restrictions introduced last month to stop the spread of the coronavirus. The pandemic emergency purchase programme (PEPP) will be expanded by €500 billion to a total of €1.85 trillion. Purchases will be extended to at least the end of March 2022.

spains economy

Spanish economy 10th December 2020

Spain Charges Investors For Its 10-Year Bond For The First Time In History

Today Spain issued €1.403 M at a new auction of bonds and securities, within the average range predicted. And it did so selling the 10-year bond with a negative yield for the first time in history. In fact, in the secondary market, the Spanish bond has been marking historical minimums for weeks. Until now, this “anomaly” was something typical of countries like Germany, with well balanced public accounts. Spain and Portugal have already joined this club. The Portuguese bond yield fell to -0.013% on Tuesday.

red electrica cableado

Spanish economy 10th December 2020

The Amount Of Renewables With Access Permission To REE Shows Spanish Network Is Starting To Be Saturated

Renta 4 | Withdrawals from network access points are continuing. To the over 20 GW of renewable projects abandoned in September, we must now add another almost 5 GW during the month of October. As of October 31st 2020, the number of renewables’ plans with access permits has risen to 121.7 GW. This means only a further 0.5 GW have obtained the access point, a clear sign the transport network is fairly saturated.

Savings

Ibex, Markets, Spanish economy 10th December 2020

Around One Third Of Spaniards Resorted To Their Savings During The Pandemic

Thirty one per cent of Spanish citizens have had to use their savings during the pandemic. This is at least double that of France (15%), Germany (14%) and the Netherlands (12%). In addition, 19% of Spaniards have had difficulty in meeting their housing costs. In these three above-mentioned countries, the percentage of those who acknowledge this problem is around 10%. This is data from the latest Focus on Spanish Society, a publication edited by Funcas.

spanish bonds

Spanish economy 9th December 2020

Spain’s 10-Year IRR In A Zone Of Historic Lows

The yield on the ten-year Spanish sovereign bond in the secondary market hit a new historic low of 0.024% on Tuesday, below the August 2019 low of 0.035%. While the interest on the equivalent German bond was -0.611%, the risk premium offered to investors by Spanish bonds with respect to the ‘bund’ reference was around 63.77 basis points. The Portuguese bond yield fell into negative territory for the first time, standing at -0.013%.

Logista

Markets, Spanish economy, Spanish Small & Mid Caps 9th December 2020

Logista, Recognized As A World Leader In Sustainability In The CDP “A List” For The 5th Year In A Row

Logista, a leading distribution company in southern Europe, was recognized as a world leader in sustainability by CDP, an international non-profit organization, by entering its prestigious A List for its fight against climate change. This is the fifth year in a row that Logista achieves this recognition, being the first European distributor to achieve it over such a long period of time.