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…
NEW YORK | Their outlook remains negative, but there is some brightness in the horizon, the agency reckons. Standard and Poors will not cut Spain’s rating because it believes the country has done its homework, showing a strong commitment to economic and fiscal adjustment. It will continue to receive support from its European partners and the ECB and therefore its debt will remain below 80 percent of GDP beyond 2015….
By Tania Suárez, in Madrid | On Tuesday afternoon, July 31, the Council for Fiscal and Financial Policy (CPFF by its Spanish initials) will meet the central government in order to establish the deficit target and debt levels of each region in Spain for 2013. It is expected that the regions will adapt themselves to the general targets, which marked a mutual deficit of 0.7% for 2013, 0.1% for 2014…
MADRID | Nobody seems to pay much attention to bad news these days. The stock market shows a bullish bias, recovering from the lows it plunged into driven by fears of utter collapse. Yet, recession has intensified its slide, the second quarter showing a 0,4% GDP decrease. With no prospects of redressing the downturn till the middle of next year, at the best, future outlook doesn’t provide much room for optimism….
The Spanish tether already seems overstretched. On Monday, the national institute for statistics published fresh data confirming a forecast released days before by the country’s central bank, which warned of a contracting GDP: at -0.4 percent, records for the second quarter of the year were indeed 0.1 percent worse than for the first three months. Private consumption and investment have fallen, year on year rates of industrial prices have risen…