MADRID | June 10, 2015 | By Fernando G. Urbaneja | Spanish unions and employers’ organisations signed a two-year-agreement this week to raise salaries, the first hike in three years. Both parties had been debating for months while the government, distant yet vigilant, recommended a raise combining purchasing power with productivity.
The Corner | June 8, 2015 | Spanish growth, well above the euro area average, has surprised the IMF on the upside (GDP growth is seen at 3.1% in 2015 and 2.5% in 2016). And reforms have boosted confidence, business investment and consumption. The main headwind for Mariano Rajoy’s government is now a hampering unemployment rate of almost 23.8%, the Washington-based institution says.
The Corner | June 3, 2015 | Good news for Spain’s economic recovery. The number of unemployed people in Spain saw a sharp drop in May, marking the largest fifth-month decline since records began in 1996.
MADRID | June 2, 2015 | By Fernando G. Urbaneja | Executions of unpaid mortgages currently play a preferential role in Spanish politics.
The Corner | June 1, 2015 | Spain Manufacturing PMI Index, designed to measure the performance of the manufacturing economy, rose to 55.8 in May from 54.2 in April: the strongest improvement in business conditions in the country in eight years, according to Markit.
The Corner | May 26, 2015 | Car factories operating in Spain produced nearly one million units in the first four months of 2015, up 12.5% from a year earlier.
The Corner | May 26, 2015 | The improvement of financial markets in 2014 allowed the issuance average cost of the Spanish public Treasury to go down to 1.46%, about 100 basis points below 2013 levels. Spanish premium risk fell by 114 basis points to reach an average of 120 points in December, according to the Bank of Spain. (Chart above: Spain Generic Govt 10Y Yield; Source: Bloomberg)
MADRID | May 25, 2015 | By Fernando G. Urbaneja | The conservative Popular Party has its worst election in two decades, losing a big chunk of power in cities and regions on Sunday. Corruption scandals and high unemployment resulting from the economic crisis severely punished traditional parties, which now need to form coalitions with emerging groups Ciudadanos and Podemos.
MADRID | May 21, 2015 | By AFI | The Spanish Treasury issued € 110 billion of debt in gross figures, representing 46% of the total for this year, not so much through cost reduction but via the extension of maturities. In 2015 more than 60% of issuances were 10-year-bonds, while in 2012, at the worst moment of the debt crisis, these maturities only represented 8% of total issuances.
The Corner | May 18, 2015 | Spain’s economy minister Luis de Guindos said the country’s economic growth is likely to be stronger than expected: 3.5% in the first half of the year and more “balanced” thanks to a lower deficit, lower private borrowing and improved external competitiveness and exports.