MADRID | By Julia Pastor | Two years, a €100 billion banking bailout, and a comprehensive package of structural reforms later, Spain’s president, Mariano Rajoy, celebrated on Wednesday his 2011 electoral victory. These years’ balance is some sort of bittersweet taste. The country’s external perception has improved, but unemployment and public debt numbers are still a heavy burden.
MADRID | By The Corner Team | In order to ensure the consolidation of the recovery in the Spanish economy, all reforms and modifications should focus on boosting foreign investment in the country. After all, it has demonstrated to be a land of opportunities for smart investors.
MADRID | The Corner Team via CapitalMadrid | Spanish banks will close 20% of their branches by 2015, compared to 10% which shut down in Germany and 5% in France, according to a Roland Berger report called ‘The future of the retail banking in Europe’.
MADRID | The Corner Team | The balance of non-performing loans of the Spanish banking sector rose in September to reach a new record of 12.68 percent, since the 12.12 per cent in August, according to provisional figures that the Bank of Spain reported on Monday. The volume of non-performing loans rose 6.888 billion euros, up to 187.830 million euros.
NEW YORK | By JPMorgan analysts | The Spanish economy has been showing clear signs of recovery since the summer, although from very low levels and we see no time for complacency for Rajoy’s government, a risk investors are already highlighting. There are some pending structural reforms in the fiscal, legal and pension sectors, while, in the banking sector, we would encourage a final cleanup to prevent a Japanese-style downturn, regarding which the October deflation data may be a warning. In our view, a more stable legal environment is also necessary for investors in regulated sectors, where banks and utilities are likely to be most affected.
MADRID | By Francisco López | There are increasingly more voices doubting the effectiveness of the labor reform that’s apparently making the Minister of Industry so proud. Qualified labour market experts argue that such reform has been a fiasco and it has not served nor it will serve to meet its main target: the creation of productive employment.
MADRID | By Carlos Díaz Güell | We are facing a new era in global economy: the rise of the so-called “new economy,” full of challenges and uncertainties that can’t be ignored so as to be on the road to growth. However, Spanish politicians seem to turn a deaf ear and to ignore the needs of the labour market.
WASHINGTON | By Pablo Pardo | Dean Tenerelli started investing in Spain one year ago. At the time, many of his colleagues thought that he was going too far. Certainly, he went further than anyone else. But, so far, his bet is rendering excellent yields. Tenerelli manages the T. Rowe Price European Stock, a SICAV with more than $900 million (approximately 700 million euros) in assets, of which around $150 million are in Spanish companies shares. Now, others, such as Bill Gates, Warren Buffett and Carlos Slim, have followed this manager’s example and have started to pour money into Spain. Tenerelli has talked with The Corner over the phone about his experience.
MADRID | By Julia Pastor | Telecom Italia needs to reorganise its balance sheet via a capital increase, a dividend cut or a sale of assets. Spanish Telefónica, which has a 22.4% stake of the Italian firm through Telco, may be willing to help the company by a convertible securities issue or the participation in that capital increase.
MADRID | By Carlos Díaz Güell | For the second consecutive quarter, Spanish banks have maintained their lending criteria and there is a lower decline in credit demand than in previous quarters. For the next months we expect a moderation in credit reduction, a sign that the country has left the worst of the crisis behind.