MADRID | One-off cuts and further squeezing measures have been taken in a desperate attempt to avoid budgetary discomfiture. By mid-term central government deficit had already attained its full year target, not to mention a regional and local performance no one knows for sure where it stands. A drastic brake to such blatant slippery became an unavoidable option. The markets and Brussels have done the rest. Free-running risk premium has not…
By Tania Suárez, in Madrid | Things are getting even more difficult in Spain. First, the recently announced measures of adjustment, then the protests from the mining industry and now it is the turn of the Spanish regions. Minister of finance Cristóbal Montoro said that he wouldn’t be as permissive as Brussels has been with Spain; that the government will not extend the period for the regions to achieve the fiscal…
MADRID |Fernando G. Urbaneja| Premier Mariano Rajoy did not expect the economic picture to be that overwhelming, although it was predictable, nor former premier Mr Zapatero could believe in May 2010, that he was meant to play the role he so reluctantly played. Both of their reactions are part of Spain's problem: government leaders, alleged leaders dragged from the events who have to act against their beliefs. Ms Rosa Diez (former…
MADRID | The Spanish government has adamantly refused to accept any macro conditioning that might portrait it as falling under a full-fledged intervention. Markets hold a different view witnessing how recommendations advanced by the Brussels bureaucracy are taken to the line. VAT increase stands as the paramount example of an ill-judged proposal Spain is implementing under euro-pressure. Wasn’t the party now in power forcefully opposed to a similar measure not so…
how can i get my ex back By Tania Suárez, in Madrid | The president of the Spanish government Mariano Rajoy had a purpose this morning. He wanted to make a decisive move, not just a simple declaration of intentions. He wanted to get out of his hideout to take the reins of Spain. And he has done it. During a speech in a plenary session of the Congress this…
MADRID | The conditions imposed on Spain upon access to rescue funds for its ailing financial system, point to the need to undertake a major overhaul both in banking supervision and restructuring. The Eurogroup urges a handover to the Bank of Spain of powers hitherto retained by the ministry of Economy. It also forces breakup and/or severe downsizing of troubled banks, plus a resolution scheme to transfer part of the burden…
B. Toribio and R. Ugalde (lainformacion.com) | Fasten your seat-belts! This week we will see a new wave of cutbacks that will affect Spaniards'pockets. The president of the Spanish government Mariano Rajoy, and his team, have been warning the country for the last weeks, and here we explain how, when and why those measures will be carried out. Next Friday July 13 is the beginning of many more austerity announcements…
how do i get back my ex girlfriend By Luis Arroyo, in Madrid | Changing the goal posts… Again, Brussels rectified. The euro finance ministers Ecofin made this morning the decision of not waiting until 2013 to release at least part of the capital aid package. A third of the total sum of €100 billion will be available in July. The connotations of this change of mind, though, go beyond…
By CaixaBank research team, in Barcelona | Tensions in Europe’s sovereign debt markets have grown again, especially in the so-called peripheral economies. Increasing rumours regarding Greek’s possible exit from the euro area have played a significant part. In Spain, this escalation has been sharpened by further capital requirements for banks and the increasingly widespread doubts as to whether the fiscal deficit targets will be met, particularly after the upward revision…
The implications of recent developments in Catalonia's export activity are bound to agitate the political scene of the region more than its economic stand, which remains at a deficit of around €15 billion. According to the statistics institute of the autonomous government, the Generalitat, Catalan exports to non-Spanish markets in 2011 were higher for the first time than those to Spain: the regional department for the Economy said the international trade percentage…