Luis Arroyo, in Madrid | It’s the talk of the town. The euro zone desperately needs to become a fiscal union and, voilà, everything will be sorted. But I wonder: how do we get there? Have a look at the chart below, which reflects fiscal pressure levels in core Europe economies and in some of the peripherals’. What do we see? We clearly spot the huge differences among them (which are…
By Fernando Barciela | News that Portugal’s major cities grounded to a halt Thursday pointed at an initial victory for labour unions, which began today a 24-hour strike against austerity measures agreed by the government in return for an international bailout. Demonstrations and rallies were also planned in 38 cities and towns across the country, including Lisbon. Six months have been enough for prime minister Pedro Passos Coelho to become the most unpopular…
By Carlos Díaz Güell, in Madrid | Portugal has gained the confidence of the Troika (staffers from the IMF, the European Commission and the European Central Bank), as one could infer after reading the note published at the end of their visit last week to Lisbon for the third quarterly review of the adjustment programme. The group acknowledged the progress in correcting imbalances and gave the approval for disbursement of the fourth…
The Latin Bloc may be awakening, after all. The least it could be said about the Spanish government’s decision of bending the public deficit target bar Brussels and Berlin intend to impose, from a harsh 4.4pc to a softer 5.8pc, is that president Mariano Rajoy has enlivened with his move the not-just-austerity talk and the perhaps-Germany-is-wrong debate. In the Friday edition of the Spanish daily El País, former president and…
By Juan Pedro Marín Arrese, in Madrid | Europe seems to witness with sheer indifference the Greek slide into utter ruin. Not so long ago Ms Merkel used to stress her unshakeable resolve not to let down any euro country. But the German finance Minister is currently pushing the Hellenic government towards the exit door. What has happened for such a U-turn? To begin with, fears about financial system contagion…
Portugal has taken its commitment to Europe very seriously, the rescue programme representing €78bn. So after the selling of the state-owned companies EdP and REN to the Chinese companies Three Gorges and State Grid, it is the turn of the Portuguese flag carrier TAP. All the signs are that, if no unexpected events meddle the deal, the next TPA’s owner will be the British-Spanish airline IAG. According to the digital…
The government of Portugal has sold to the Chinese company Three Gorges Corporation a package of shares representing 21.35% of the social capital that the state held in the Portuguese electrical company Energias de Portugal (EDP), in exchange of a payment of €2.693 billion, according to information provided by the government investment company Parpública to the Portuguese market supervisor, CMVM. The Portuguese executive explains that its choice was based of…
The EC proposes to reduce to 3.5% the rate applied by the EFSF to Ireland and Portugal, now at 6.5% and 5.5% respectively, and Madrid’s financial City welcomes the idea. For Banco Santander, “The European Commission yesterday proposed reducing to 3.5% the interest rate charged by the EFSF to Ireland (currently over 6.5%) and Portugal (5.5%), and extend the debt maturities to 30 years. This proposal is the result of…
The EC proposes to reduce to 3.5% the rate applied by the EFSF to Ireland and Portugal, now at 6.5% and 5.5% respectively, and Madrid’s financial City welcomes the idea. For Banco Santander, “The European Commission yesterday proposed reducing to 3.5% the interest rate charged by the EFSF to Ireland (currently over 6.5%) and Portugal (5.5%), and extend the debt maturities to 30 years. This proposal is the result of…