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Spanish economy

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Spanish economy 24th July 2014

Spain: Barclays see growth and employment improving in Q2

MADRID | The Corner | Ahead of INE’s official release of Q2 growth, Bank of Spain (BdE) published  on Wednesday its estimate in its economic bulletin. The central bank estimates that economic activity in Q2 accelerated to 0.5% q/q from 0.4% q/q in Q1, driven by positive contributions from both domestic and external demand. BdE has also revised upwards its annual growth projections for 2014 and 2015 to 1.3% and 2%. These estimates coincide with ours, both for Q2 14 and for 2014-15, analysts at Barclays point out.

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Spanish economy 24th July 2014

Madrid saps Catalonia fiscal claims

MADRID | By J.P. Marín Arrese | Spanish Finance Ministry published on Thursday a regional breakdown of public income and expenses, aimed at rebuking unfair fiscal claims from Catalonia’s regional government. The move comes a few days before its chairman, Artur Mas, meets Prime Minister Rajoy in a last ditch attempt to defuse the current rift over self-rule. It has already being hotly contested by Mr Mas, as an open challenge to his core request for better budgetary treatment. It will hardly contribute to a favourable climate before that key meeting by closing the door to any face-saving outcome based on buying time in exchange of extra money.  

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Spanish economy 16th July 2014

Defaults on instalment purchases fall by 25.2% in Spain

MADRID | By The Corner | The number of trade assets obtained on deferred terms and returned unpaid by households and companies plummeted by 25.2% in May, according to Spain’s National Statistics Institute (INE). Thus, defaulting in commerce puts together 25 months of year-on-year drops.

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Spanish economy 4th July 2014

Rajoy’s armour-plating against strong, divided left?

MADRID | Op-ed by Jaime Santisteban | Spanish government is announcing “second generation reforms” in technology and innovation, optimizing of European Structural Funds for youth employment and public-private partnerships. Even a change in mayors’ election procedure.  On which grounds? These measures come up after European elections showed a very fragmented political scene and a serious punishment to bipartisanship.

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Spanish economy 2nd July 2014

Spanish PMI, the best among EU countries

MADRID | By The Corner | PMI manufacturing in the Eurozone was weaker than expected (51.8 versus 51.9), except for Spain, whose PMI picked up to 54.6 from previous 52.9. The negative note was the French data, which plummeted 1.4 points to 48.5 thus maintaining the country in the economic contraction zone.

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Spanish economy 27th June 2014

Spain’s tax reform, bad deal for small savers

MADRID | By Francisco López |  The need for goverment to increase income allocated to saving was among the major aims of the tax reform passed on June 20 in Spain. That’s why experts were surprised when knowing about the end of the tax exemption on the first €1,500 of dividend, which goes clearly against small savers. The government insists it is balanced out by other deductions on all brackets taxing savings.

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Spanish economy 27th June 2014

Home mortgages average in Spain rises by 6.2% to €100,394

MADRID | The Corner | Spanish mortgage business continued down the road and registered 13.4% less than last year in April’s property records. According to the National Statistical Institute (INE), the loaned capital for housing reached €1.5 billion, which is 8% less than the 2013 figure. Thus, the average amount of mortgages on dwellings in Spain is €100,394, i.e. +6.2% more than the previous year.  The boards of technical architects awarded 11,680 building licences for new houses in the first four months of the year (4M2014), 9% less year-over-year. This construction visa remain far away from September 2006 maximum where they were beyond 255,000 in four months.

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Spanish economy 25th June 2014

Spain produces more than 1m cars, aims +2m

MADRID | The Corner | The production of vehicles in Spain exceeded one million units in 2014, after the 7% growth recorded in May, according to the Spanish Association of Car and Lorry Manufacturers (ANFAC). Thus, during that month, the level of manufacturing reached 232,762 units and the total annualized was 1,065,879 vehicles. During the first five months of the year, the production of vehicles in Spain grew by 11%. ANFAC estimates that the recording of production will reach 2.4 million by the end of 2014.