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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…

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…

inflation rises

Spanish economy 30th June 2023

Spanish inflation falls to 1.9% in June, core remains at 5.9%

The leading indicator of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the month of June leaves the lowest inflation figure since April 2021. According to information published by the National Statistics Institute (INE), year-on-year inflation stood at 1.9% in June. If this figure is confirmed on 12 July, it would be more than one point lower than the figure recorded in May (3.2%). Yesterday morning, the Minister of Economy, Nadia Calviño,…

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…

caixabank

Spanish economy 29th June 2023

Caixabank, a 1.5 billion share buyback?

Morgan Stanley analysts reiterate their OW (Overweight) on Caixabank and maintain the stock as a sector Top Pick, as they believe that the market is undervaluing the bank’s capital generation capacity by analysing DTAs (deferred tax assets). Additionally, they now assume in their base scenario a €1.5bn buyback that they expect to be announced in Q3, which together with a mark-to-market of the yield curve, justifies an upward revision of…

Spanish middle class shrinks since crisis

Spanish economy 29th June 2023

Spanish households spending 8% more but consuming 3% less than before the pandemic

Spanish households spend more, but consume less. This is one of the main conclusions of the Household Budget Survey published by the INE, which determines that the average expenditure per household in 2022 increased by 7.9% with respect to the previous year, to reach €31,568. This figure exceeds pre-pandemic levels in global terms, with an increase of 4.4% compared to 2019. However, these figures are magnified by the effect of…

pedro sanchez vota

In Spain 28th June 2023

Implications of the July 23rd election for Spanish utilities

Morgan Stanley| With the general elections just around the corner (July 23rd), Rob Pulleyn has published a report in which he discusses the possible outcomes of the elections (and therefore possible energy policies) and their implications for utilities with exposure to Spain. Overall, he believes that the impact will be significant, but in his baseline scenario, he believes that Spanish utilities will generally do well as a result of the…

Spain manufacturing sector

Spanish economy 27th June 2023

Car production in Spain up 20% in first five months of 2023 and passes one-million-vehicle mark

Intermoney| According to data published by Anfac, vehicle production in Spain continues on its clear path of recovery and in the first five months of the year increased by 19.9% to reach 1.08 million cars. In May, growth was up 35.9%, with 249,906 vehicles produced. Of the vehicles manufactured up to May, 90.8% were exported to other countries (up 3.7pp vs. 2022 levels), while in May the percentage of vehicles…

aena1

Spanish economy 27th June 2023

Aena could be negotiating with banks to refinance two credit lines of €1,450 M

Link Securities | Aena (AENA) is in negotiations with banks to refinance two credit lines for an aggregate amount of €1,450 million, with the possibility of extending the principal of the same to around €2,000 million, as reported on Monday by the newspaper Expansión, according to various market sources. The refinancing follows the appointment of Ignacio Castejón as Aena’s new chief financial officer last November. According to the sources consulted,…