MADRID | The injection of public money and nationalisation of Bankia ends a compelling need with a solution, earlier discarded, that in the US or the UK has been long ago adopted but neither the Germans or the French want to face, in spite of many of their banks being as weak as some the Spanish entities may be. François Hollande’s arrival to the presidency of France is also good news:…
MADRID | Rescuing BANKIA will contribute to cut short doubts on short-term Spanish banking solvency. It was no secret that BANKIA was thrown in deep waters by the demanding government requirement to uplift real estate portfolio, having the dubious merit to top the list of entities laden with bad loans. Its intention to mend this state and play on its own gathered widespread disbelief, as big potential partners turned their backs…
MADRID | The number of unemployment benefit claimants in Spain in April fell by 6,632, bringing the total down to 4,744,235 people according to data released Friday by the ministry of Employment and National Insurance. Although this is the first decline in eight months, analysts pointed out that the little improvement in unemployment figures was mainly due to temporary hiring during Easter and was lower than expected. On average, experts polled…
MADRID | Following German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s instructions, those supposedly at command in Euroland zealously repeat that growth and austerity are not in contradiction. Beware about such a slim talk. Their underlying message is that fiscal compact must be preserved at all costs, growth delivery amounting to a merely cosmetic make-up. Eurocrats are working out ways to sell through financial engineering the same money under a more “à la mode” disguise….
MADRID | Bolsas y Mercados Españoles BME, the operator of all stock markets and financial systems in Spain, said Thursday that equity trading volume on the Spanish stock exchange in April had reached €65.75 billion. This is an increase of 7.25% from the previous month but 19% down on the same period in 2011. The trading volume for the first four months totaled €242.70 billion, down 26% from the same period…
By Carlos Díaz Guell, in Madrid | In Spain, households’ financial assets fell by 3.5% in 2011 due to a downturn in acquisition activity and especially market declines recorded in the third quarter of last year after the deterioration of the sovereign crisis. This is compounded by the collapse of housing prices, which caused housing sector wealth to fall by 6.6% dragging total net wealth down 51 percentage points of GDP. In 2011 it also was reported a change in the composition of household savings with a fall not seen…
MADRID | No one expects incoming governments to keep promises entered while campaigning to cajole voters. But Rajoy’s performance does merit a place in the Guinness record book. Didn’t he adamantly bind himself never to facilitate lay-offs? Didn’t he commit himself never to increase taxes? People can understand he may break pledges when confronted with a dismal economic scenario. But they have good reasons to feel frustrated at the hectic way…
MADRID | After the national office for statistics in Spain confirmed everyone’s suspicions about the country returning to recession, with a -0.3% economic contraction versus expectations of -0.4% , a note from BBVA research team on Spain’s strengths could come handy as a reminder that the #spanic would be still avoidable and this Espan-hole could be safely closed. BBVA analysts explained in its monthly report aptly headlined ‘Leaving stereotypes behind‘ that…
Infoadex published this week the advertising investment data in media in Spain during the first quarter of 2012. To most financial analysts, the figures are in line with their estimates about advertisement spending in general television broadcasters and continue registering massive drops in the daily press and radio stations. It surely is the consequence of a depressed domestic market and the country’s economic travails. But on a more contextualising note,…
NEW YORK | When one of the world’s most prestigious newspapers quotes a blogger as the main source of a story on international economy, sure that blogger’s words do get a boost. The New York Times Business front page recently spoke of “Spain’s weak spot“, saying that “A rising portion of Spain’s €663 billion, or $876 billion, in home mortgages at risk of default could lead the country’s banks to a…