In Spain

Kristalina IMF

IMF lowers growth forecast for Spain to 1.1% in 2023 and calls for fiscal consolidation

The IMF raises its growth forecast for Spain in 2022 to 5.2%, but lowers its forecast for 2023 to 1.1%. Thus, the IMF anticipates that activity will reach its pre-pandemic level at the beginning of 2024, when it expects GDP to grow by 2.4% and at a rate of 2.2% in 2025. As for inflation, the institution estimates an average price increase in 2022 of 8.4%, which will moderate this…


120906Bolsa2

Cosentino hires Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan to go public

Cosentino, the Spanish giant that owns Silestone, has hired the services of Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan as global coordinators to prepare its IPO this year, according to market sources quoted by the newspaper Expansión.The family group from Almeria, manufacturer and distributor of surfaces – countertops, flooring, paving, etc. – for the housing, architecture and design sectors, is targeting next summer for its debut on the stock exchange, although the timetable…


Macron Sanchez

The Hispano-French summit in Barcelona and the schizophrenia of Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya

Emmanuel Macron, President of France, the most centralist and Jacobin of European states, will be received today in the most decentralised country on the continent, Spain. The government has chosen Barcelona as the meeting place, the Barcelona mountain of Montjuic, which was the site of the 1929 Universal Exhibition and the 1992 Games, where the pro-independence supporters, led by Oriol Junqueras, await them. The ERC leader pardoned by Sánchez’s government…


pedro alertado

Former PSOE ministers “alarmed” at Sánchez government’s “desertion of constitutional commitments”

A total of 255 personalities have signed a manifesto against the government in which they criticise the recent reforms it has carried out to the Penal Code and the attempt to modify the system of election of the Constitutional Court, warning that the regime of freedoms could fail if this governmental and legislative dynamic continues. The manifesto calls on the PSOE to recover its historic project, which led it to…


inflacion super

Price controls and old, failed ideas

Fernando González Urbaneja | Keynes in the closing pages of his “General Theory…” alludes to the failed ideas of old economists nesting in the minds of new rulers as one of the avoidable mistakes. Old ideas, simple answers to somewhat more complex problems are frequent in politics, due to inconsistency, prejudice, ignorance, lack of experience. The most blatant example is the price of the shopping basket, which has undergone appreciable…


Iberdrola

Iberdrola sells Norges 49% of €1,225-million renewable assets portfolio

Iberdrola has signed a strategic alliance with the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund, managed by Norges Bank Investment Management, to co-invest in 1,265 megawatts (MW) of new renewable capacity in Spain – 20% wind and 80% photovoltaic. This renewable portfolio will have the capacity to power more than 700,000 homes each year. The valuation of 100% of this portfolio of assets amounts to approximately €1,225 million. Iberdrola will control and manage…


inditex all

11% of Inditex retail outlets in France close in last two years

Alphavalue / Divacons| According to data from Les Echos, analysts note that the physical fashion retail network is shrinking. In the last two years, 11% of physical fashion shops in France have closed. The market fell by 9% in 2022 compared to 2019. Overall, traffic is down by 17%, but the transformation rate is increasing, as is the average basket. According to eMarketer, e-commerce accounted for 14.8% of total retail…


caixabank2

BlackRock stake in CaixaBank exceeds 5% for first time

BlackRock raises its stake in CaixaBank and increases its stake in the bank’s capital from 3.2% to 5.01%, according to the records of the Spanish National Securities Market Commission (CNMV). In total, the fund manager holds 376.3 million shares valued at 1.5 billion. CaixaBank closed Monday at €3.8 per share. BlackRock, which was already Caixabank’s largest private shareholder, behind only CriteriaCaixa and the state, bought 117.6 million shares on Friday…


pedro sanchez

Spain: tax collection rises by 15% but deficit will rise to 4.5% of GDP according to AIReF

The Independent Authority for Fiscal Responsibility (AIReF) estimates that last year closed with growth of 5.3%, which represents an upward revision of 9 tenths of a percentage point; and that in 2023 it will be 1.6%, in this case one tenth of a percentage point more than the previous estimate. The main reason for the revision in 2022 comes from the incorporation of updated national accounting data – which revised…


Enagas

Enagás reaches agreement with Uniper to buy 20% stake in UK-Netherlands pipeline

Enagás (ENG) has reached an agreement with Germany’s Uniper to acquire a 20% stake in BBL Company, owner of the 235-km gas interconnection linking the UK and the Netherlands. This transaction is part of the company’s Strategic Plan objectives to contribute to Europe’s security of supply and decarbonisation. Just a month ago Enagás, France’s Teréga and GRTgaz and Portugal’s REN signed a Memorandum of Understanding ratifying their commitment to collaborate…