The Spanish Parliament has set up a special Committee to scrutinise what led to the financial crisis ten years ago. But the craving for finding individual culprits will overrun any reasonable attempt to search for the simple truth that no one could foresee the crisis.
The stability in Spain’s growth in the fourth quarter compared with the third is the result of two forces pulling in opposite directions: the strength of the export markets has offset the adverse effect of increased political uncertainty in Catalonia.
Spanish banks NPLs ratio fell to 8.22% in October, over one percentage point lower than a year earlier. Recently published figures from the Bank of Spain show that the pace of the decline in NPLs accelerated in October, registering an anual 12.52% drop (-11.64% in September).
All the sectors in the Spanish economy should contribute to improving competitiveness and efficiency, at the same time as cutting their debt. The Spanish banks are doing just that.
The current political scenario in Spain requires us to highlight some points about our country, using as a starting point the Bank of Spain’s interesting analysis called: “The impact of the uncertainty arising from the political tensions in Catalonia”.
Financial institutions, companies and households have continued to adjust the debt accumulated in the first half of the year. In the case of non-financial companies and households, their level of debt is increasingly closer to the European average, against a backdrop of greater economic growth and preference for home ownership.
Housing prices have grown 16% since end-2014, according to the Bank of Spain. This is after a decline of 37% in nominal terms (45% in real terms) since their peak at end-2007.
Foreign investors have increased their leadership in terms of how many shares they own in Spanish listed companies. They held 43.1% of the total at end-2016.
Pablo Fernández | The “Report on the financial and banking crisis in Spain, 2008-2014” published by the Bank of Spain last May is 252 pages long, but omits important facts and dates. The most surprising thing is that it seems to assume that the financial and banking crisis in Spain was the result of “contagion” from the ‘”international financing crisis”.
The Bank of Spain’s report on the financial and banking crisis in Spain has left the sensation that the institution, by action or by omission, has failed in its supervisory responsabilities and allowed practically all Spanish lenders to operate without any kind of control. The worst thing is that situation has continued. The bank has been the but of heavy criticism for how it acted with respect to Banco Popular’s resolution.