euro

Spanish economy 20th April 2012

Spain’s government must pass by blackmail from counter-austerity lobbies

By Carlos Díaz Guell, in Madrid | No one in Spain is going to make it easy for the Rajoy government. Policy reforms and budget cuts undertaken by the cabinet, although considered timid and inadequate by many, will inevitably leave a number of victims in the ditches and they don’t seem willing to let this occur without doing anything against it. The business sectors (most of them) affected by constrictions in public spending…

In Europe 20th April 2012

France most vulnerable to political risk in the euro zone, says Schroders

LONDON | In its global macro outlook report, investment company Schroders said on Friday that its eyes were on France amidst ongoing euro zone concerns and despite the uncertainty surrounding Spain. The upcoming elections could thwart France’s plans to implement State budget cuts, the Schroders paper highlighted, while the European Central Bank refinancing lines would have ring-fenced the Spanish banking sector from liquidity scarcity, unlike Italy’s. “France is the euro zone member currently…

Markets 19th April 2012

Skandia: Spanish bonds’ weakness containable, banks fully funded until 2015

LONDON | The latest Spanish financial turbulences are unlikely to start a new downturn for risk assets appetite, Skandia Investment said in a market commentary on Thursday. The investment management company believes that the recent weakness in Spanish bonds, although may become a new phase of the euro zone debt crisis, should not affect equities and other risk assets. Rupert Watson, head of asset allocation at Skandia Investment Group, remarked that…

Spanish economy 18th April 2012

Pharmaceutical co-payment: Spanish pensioners charged 10%

By Tania Suárez, in Madrid | One more twist in the reform plans introduced by the Spanish government: time is up for the public health system… again. The vice-president Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría said in March that “the matter of the [sanitary] co-payment is not on the table of the Cabinet; it is as simple and crystal clear as that.” In Spain, the pensioners did not have to pay for…

Spanish economy 18th April 2012

Will rubber-stamping bank plans convince the markets? Spain needs growth

MADRID | The Bank of Spain has cleared the plans presented by financial institutions to meet the demanding requirements designed to clean up real estate exposure. As expected, extra needs fall short by 10% to the €50 billion that the government forecast when launching the reform in February. Considerable adjustments undertaken at last year close have eased up the pending effort. Will this encouraging result calm down market concern? There is…

Markets 16th April 2012

The euro and the world

By Luis Arroyo, in Madrid | Spain is the word. Everybody looks at Spain with suspicion because it could be the source, not the cause, of the next and penultimate euro crisis. The premium risk goes up, Argentina prepares a takeover on YPF, and the King breaks his hip and his grandson shoots himself in the foot. The rumours I hear tell me that the nation’s government does not expect any help…

Spanish economy 16th April 2012

Rajoy’s bitterness at being treated like Zapatero

MADRID | The new team in power in Spain never thought they could one day being mercilessly mauled by markets as the previous government was. Spanish Conservatism was supposed to stand as a safe harbour in a euro zone vastly dominated by fellow political parties. Swift implementation of sweeping reforms, coupled with an extremely tight budget, was expected to act as a powerful lever to winch up ailing credibility. And yet, Madrid…

Markets 13th April 2012

Spain could cancel bond sales until after summer

Too true. Undeniably, this was the frightening scene on Friday, which heated the discussion about what’s next for the Kingdom of Spain, with even some Greek bouzouki music on the background. But. Analysts at Sabadell Bolsa reminded the markets of a few facts, probably compelled by the amount of fog gathered during the last days over the state of the Spanish finances and its economic prospects. Although acknowledging that domestic imbalances…

Markets 13th April 2012

Weakness in peripheral Europe transitory, Skandia tells investors

LONDON | Skandia Investment Group believes equities will go higher in 2012 despite their already record performance in the first quarter. Equities would be set to rally again once profit taking comes to an end, SIG told investors Friday in a note. Analysts pointed out that global equities had their strongest quarter in over 10 years on the back of strong economic data and hopes that the European debt crisis was past…

Markets 13th April 2012

Madrid bluffing about leaving the euro may backfire

MADRID | Berlin is utterly bewildered, according to official sources, by the clumsy way Madrid is running its current crisis. A high ranking government representative stunned his German counterparts by openly declaring that Spain would be ready to find its way out of the euro if that was the prize to avoid intervention. He wasn’t bluffing. On Monday this week he presented PM Rajoy and ministers in charge of economic matters…

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