deficit

Companies 28th May 2012

Spain’s €30-billion privatisation plan to affect AIG, Renfe among others

The Spanish government estimates it may take in up to €30 billion through an “ambitious” privatisation plan which will be passed before summer, reported news agency Europa Press on Monday. This new government plan, which completes the reforms that have already been approved as well as other further measures (the single market, or the entrepreneurship law) will affect all the ministries and enable private initiatives to enter in a large number…

World economy 16th May 2012

California Gov turns to European austerity

NEW YORK | “Cutting alone really doesn’t do it, and that’s why I’m linking the serious budget reductions — real increase to austerity — with a plea to the voters: please increase taxes temporarily on the most affluent and everyone else with a quarter of a cent sales tax,” California governor Jerry Brown said in releasing his $91 billion general fund budget plan this week. These are not easy days for…

World economy 15th May 2012

The US universities and their Madoff-like employment accounts

Universities in the US have acknowledged that they distort the employment figures of their graduates. Now, some newly graduated lawyers have begun litigation against them because, in spite of official assurances, they have been left jobless. WASHINGTON | Some U.S. lawyers have decided to file lawsuits against their Law schools. The reason? They were promised a job upon graduation but have been given none after four years of studies in addition to…

Spanish economy 15th May 2012

Deterioration in Spanish real economy softer than forecast

MADRID | BBVA Research’s latest estimates confirmed the recession in Spain, pointing to a GDP contraction of 1.3% in 2012. However, economic indicators are revealing a less dramatic than estimated deterioration in the real economy. The data presented in its ‘Spain Economic Outlook’ report show that the measures adopted lend credibility to the ability to meet current fiscal deficit targets. BBVA’s economic research department flagged the positive effect of the programme set…

In Europe 7th May 2012

Comparing pension systems in Spain, Germany: getting closer

MADRID | The reform of the pension system in Spain is planned to help to improve the outlook for sustainability of the system by reducing pension expenditure as a share of GDP. It should weigh in towards reducing the public deficit, too. At BBVA, analysts have drawn some basic comparisons between the Spanish and the German pension systems. “Given uncertainties about employment, productivity and demographics, it is appropriate for the…

World economy 2nd May 2012

Reagan? He loved his big deficit, too

By Luis Arroyo, in Madrid | Here’s one more example of how politics constantly enters the economics arena with the firm intention of interfering in some way or another. That was the time in which the US Republican conservatives tried to grill the then Federal Reserve chief Paul Volcker when he wanted to cool the high inflation of those days down. Let me quote these few lines: “Secretary Regan mustered…

Markets 13th April 2012

Doomsayers worse than Homer Simpson, Barclays Spain tells foreign brokers

MADRID | Analysts at Barclays in Spain felt so shocked by how little knowledge some market participants can display about the actual situation of the Spanish economy, that decided to act. Why Spain does so poorly compared to the rest of Europe? Well, does it? This is the quick note they wrote on Friday aimed at lending a hand to “some brokers and fund managers, mostly foreign, [who] seem to…

Markets 4th April 2012

The US cannot bury its head in the sand for much longer

LONDON | Another day spent with the euro area teasing markets’ anxieties, another voice in the background alerting of a wall of trouble building up on the other side of the Atlantic. The US budget deficit is reaching a size many feel uncomfortable about: in Wednesday’s fundamentals briefing, Legal & General Investment LGIM suggested that the outlook for US debt is actually worse than most people currently believe. “Not many…

In Europe 26th March 2012

Until Spain’s new budget shows austerity muscle, Brussels must tread carefully

By Juan Pedro Marín Arrese, in Madrid | Once again Spain is riding the storm. The sharp reduction witnessed in risk premium over the last months is vanishing. A sharp budget deficit coupled with gloomy growth prospects and soaring unemployment rates are melting confidence down. Claims on a rather subdued debt position fail to impress markets. Fear that financial situation might end up in a plight is deeply ingrained. Worries…

Spanish economy 19th March 2012

Spain in dire need to square the circle of the deficit target

By Juan Pedro Marín Arrese, in Madrid | The Spanish government publicly claims success in limiting damage after having boldly taken the step to revise upwards the deficit target. But privately, it recognises that being forced by partners in the Eurogroup to trim it down came as a nasty surprise. Overconfidence had led Madrid to believe that the understanding attitude shown over Spanish budgetary problems would be enough to shore up…

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