CAPITAL MADRID, José Sánchez Mendoza.– Pay more, almost double, but with a comfortable loan that covers all or most of the amount. It’s a win-win situation, don’t you think? Though it may seem, this is not the lamp seller in a Moroccan bazaar’s talking but the candy that banks put in front of consumers to get rid of the housing stock that hampers their balance sheets. According to a study…
Morning! Today we bring you the last part of our summer series interview with Professor of Economics at Columbia University Martin Uribe. He believes that the Eurozone needs structural changes to tackle the crisis, especially in fiscal matters. The lesson we should learn from this crisis is to avoid high capital inflows into a country as happened to Spain from 2000 to 2008. – Several Nobel laureates have decried budget…
By Tania Suárez, in Madrid | In Spain, the fall in the housing prices is intensifying and that is a reason to rejoice. Last July, the average housing price fell 11.2%, but the granting of mortgages went down by 21% in the first half of the year. It is obvious that the owners may not feel comfortable with these decreases, but the truth is that as housing prices keep on…
MADRID | A frozen fish processing company from Galicia, in the north of Spain, was recently awarded the Green Card by the US’ Food and Drug Administration. The FDA isn’t exactly easy-going, but the Spanish firm has already access to the US market and extensive presence in Europe, including Russia. The news isn’t a surprise, of course: the Spanish food industry is successfully competitive, its exports have risen by 8.4…
Unless the Spanish government tackles the reform of the State administration, it is bound to follow the fate of Greece, Ireland and Portugal. Any positive impact of hints coming from the European Central Bank about lending a hand to maintain the country’s access to the markets will eventually fade away. Indeed, it is happening again. Most analysts in the financial City of Madrid said so in as many words in…
There is no denying that the talk of an eventual Spanish national rescue by euro funds has now become a feature in any serious discussion about what’s next for the global economy. Even though always ready to confront but not conform to the most realistic conclusion market analysts find for Spain, the country’s president Mariano Rajoy admitted last week that a complete bailout appears on the table next to all…
By economist Jordi Paniagua, in Valencia | In principle, whether managing a company or the economy of a country, the message of do not spend more than earnings seems perfectly reasonable. Indeed, it has found a comfortable place in the collective mind. Even governments nowadays express themselves and their policies as though it were the stuff of domestic accounting. But enterprise and economy are quite different concepts. The manner in which…
By CaixaBank research team, in Madrid | According to the Spanish Royal Academy, «rescatar» or bail out in Spanish is to release from danger, harm, trouble or oppression. Given the misgivings that the outcome of the Greek elections might lead to the country leaving the euro, something that would have hindered the considerable financing needs of Spain and Italy over the coming months, the Eurogroup welcomed the Spanish request and…
Financial analysts in Madrid warned that a ban on short selling would depress trading volumes even further while solving very little in terms of investor confidence recovery. At The Corner, we faithfully reported their disappointment with the authorities, whose small sticking plasters of policies would leave structural problems untouched, in most experts’ opinion. In the short term, though, there was something to look forward to. “Bankinter Broker and Afi experts gave…
MADRID | Supermarket chains serve a few of our basic needs and so the sector is faring better than other industries against the fierce crisis that is lacerating the European economy day in, day out. The same goes for Spain. Distribuidora Internacional de Alimentación DIA, the distribution chain, said Thursday that its sales in Spain had grown by 6 percent during the first half of the year. DIA reported today…