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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.
espana puede

Spanish economy 17th June 2021

Brussels Approves Spain’s Recovery Plan, Which May Receive The First 9 Billion In July

This approval will allow Spain to receive as early as next month, after Ecofin’s approval, 9 billion euros as an advance on the 69.5 billion requested. (The rest of the NGEU funds allocated to Spain, up to 140 billion euros, are loans and have not been considered for the time being).According to Brussels’ calculations, Spain should receive another 10 billion euros before end-2021, although this delivery will be subject to the fulfilment of almost fifty objectives. After that, Spain will be able to release new tranches every six months, as it meets a series of targets agreed with the European Commission.

dependency social spending

Spanish economy 17th June 2021

Spanish Regions Will Need More Than €35 Bn For Social Spending Until 2030

The pandemic has added pressure on the spending of the Autonomous Communities, which represents a third of the public spending of all administrations. Around 68% of this expenditure borne by the regions goes on basic social services: health (37%), education (24.5%) and social protection (6.5%), affected both by the current health crisis and by the long-term impact of the progressive ageing of the population on spending and the low birth rate on income. A study by Funcas outlines a possible scenario for regional social spending and identifies the headings that will be under the greatest upward pressure in the coming years.

em currency performance since taper tantrum

World economy 16th June 2021

The EM Currency Rally Still Has Legs

James Barrineau (Schroders) | Since March of last year, emerging market (EM) currencies have risen by a gaudy 12.8% versus the US dollar. Near-term there have been some sizable moves, such as a 10% gain for Brazil’s real versus the US dollar since the end of March this year. That naturally leads to the suggestion that EM currencies may be getting expensive, but such a view does not take into…

Electricas

Spanish economy 16th June 2021

Spain Pays The Most Expensive Electricity In Europe

Spain paid an average of 88.47 euros/megawatt hour on Monday, close to the highest price of the year during the winter storm Filomena. With momentary peaks of up to 95 euros per megawatt hour. The same price was paid in Portugal – which is part of the so-called “Iberian Electricity Market” – but there the final price is lower because it applies 6% VAT, compared to 21% in Spain. In…

ECB's president Christine Lagarde

European economy 16th June 2021

The ECB’s Holistic Approach

Laura Becerra (Caixabank Research) | If we want to get a better understanding of monetary policy decision-making, we must pay close attention to changes in financial conditions. To do this, there is an important initial step: knowing how to measure them.

Sanchez Biden

Spanish Politics 15th June 2021

The Spain-US Agreement On The Rota And Morón Bases Was Extended In May… Automatically

The Spanish press is full of jokes and laughs about the half-minute walk that US President Joe Biden had with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez after the family photo at the NATO summit. A more than brief meeting that Sánchez’s advisers – always predisposed to propaganda – had ‘sold’ as a sign of the good relationship between the two countries. The most critical newspapers talk of contempt for Spain. They…

repsolatardecer

Relevant News Item 15th June 2021

Repsol To Build A 500 MW Solar Plant In The US With Investment Of Over 500 M$

Repsol (REP) has just submitted, via Hecatte Energy, an application to the New York State Office of Renewable Energy Siting to build a 500 MW solar plant in the towns of Elba and Oakfield. The plant will involve an investment of over $500 million and is expected to create more than 500 jobs during construction. It is capable of supplying 920,000 MWh of renewable electricity annually. This will be enough…

G7 everyone

World politics 15th June 2021

G7 Unites On China With A Global Infrastructure Plan To Tackle China’s One Belt, One Road

G7 unites on China, climate change and pandemic. G7 leaders met this weekend for Joe Biden’s first summit as US president. Their first item on the agenda was to reach unity in relation to China, achieving agreement on a global infrastructure project (Build Back Better World) in response to China’s One Belt, One Road project, although without explicitly mentioning it in the text. In addition, the seven countries also committed to implement measures against anti-competitive practices by Chinese industry and agreed on a communiqué on human rights violations in Xianjing. The G7 also criticised China and demanded an investigation into the origin of COVID-19.

France

European economy 14th June 2021

France Country Report | Massive Stimulus Measures Will Drive Economic Recovery

Crédito y Caución (Atradius) | In the first quarter of this year, French GDP grew 0.4% quarter- on- quarter, supported by the fact that another nationwide lockdown was held off until April. Growth was mainly driven by investment spending and a modest increase in private consumption. While the growth rate in Q2 will be affected by the comprehensive lockdownmeasures imposed in April, the gradual easing of those restrictions in May…

spain savings rate

Spanish economy 14th June 2021

Spanish Public Debt At An All-Time High: Eur 1.39 trillion

According to data from the Bank of Spain (BdE) released on Friday, the debt of Spanish public administrations as a whole rose in Q1’21 to 1.392,733 trillion euros, a record high. This figure represents 125.3% ofof Spain’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In the last year, public debt has increased by 168.213 billion euros, which represents an increase of 13.7%. It should be recalled that at the end of 2020 this…