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Spanish economy 7th December 2011

Mariano Rajoy’s first taste of being the next president of Spain

MADRID | The Spanish press on Wednesday published reports of the newly elected Spanish President Mariano Rajoy’s trip to Marseille, where he will meet with US Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner and then, later on, jointly with French president Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Rajoy will also have the opportunity to meet with the president of the European Commission Jose Manuel Durao Barroso, and with the Polish…

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Spanish economy 6th December 2011

The new and incredible ‘boom’ of the Spanish mining industry

By Julia Pastor, in Madrid | One year ago, the European Union approved a four-year extension from 2014 to 2018 for the loss-making coal mining sector subsidies, which affected some Spanish working mines.  Even though the Spain’s Secretary of State for the EU Diego López Garrido considered then “ it was good news for the whole of the Spanish mining industry, especially for coal mining,” the truth is that the…

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Spanish economy 5th December 2011

Repsol ready to test wholesale markets

MADRID | The Spanish press today echoes Repsol’s move, which has started sounding out investors to carry out a debt issuance after the relief brought by the drop to below the 350 b.p. in the Spanish risk premium. “BBVA was the last Spanish firm that issued debt on the wholesale market. On October 28, the second major Spanish bank placed €750 million in senior debt at 18 months at a price…

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Spanish economy 29th November 2011

Spain’s regions obtained a “small surplus” in 3Q11, says finance minister Salgado

With a public deficit of €12.87 billion, 1.19% of GDP in the third quarter, the regional governments in Spain would have recorded a small surplus of €192.72 million, according to what the finance vice president Elena Salgado said on Tuesday. More details were reported by the Spanish press. “… The Spanish regions are on the path of deficit reduction,” said Elena Salgado, finance vice president. Her forecast for the full year…

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Spanish economy 28th November 2011

Distressed assets investors head to Spain for restructuring plans

Rumours of a super-toxic bank have been building up in Spain ever since the conservative People’s Party won the country’s general election by landslide. According to last weekend’s Bloomberg reports, “Spanish Prime Minister-elect Mariano Rajoy has asked for at least two papers from academics on how to create a so-called bad bank, according to two people with knowledge of the matter. “Both proposals outline mechanisms for a state-backed agency to buy soured assets…

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Spanish economy 21st November 2011

The PP will control €7 out of €10 of Spain’s public spending

By Julia Pastor, in Madrid | Mariano Rajoy’s People’s Party has won the most crushing absolute majority of its history, with 186 seats out of the total 350 of the Spanish Parliament (in 2000, former president José María Aznar achieved 183). On Monday, analysts of the financial City of Madrid expressed their opinions about this shift in the political scene. “The elections results were already expected by the markets, since…

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Spanish economy 14th November 2011

The Ibex 35 ‘blue chips’ according to Expansión

The Spanish finance newspaper Expansión reviewed in its Monday’s edition some of the Ibex 35’s ‘blue chips’. The leading companies of the index have fallen 25% on average since early 2007, more than their European counterparts. Investment advisers claim many big funds have removed them from their portfolios due ​​to the peripheral tensions, but their managers have not taken into account that Spain’s ‘blue chips’ stand out against their competitors because…