MADRID | March 1, 2015 | By Sean Duffy | With positive figures being returned on a weekly basis from the Spanish Finance Ministry, Spain appears to have turned a corner in its quest for financial recovery. Yet while the figures are good news for policy makers, the lingering pall of high unemployment continues to cast a shadow over growth prospects.
The Corner | February 27, 2015 | Inflation edged up in January, but the figures are unlikely to stop increasingly confident Spanish consumers from spending.
MADRID | February 27th, | The Corner | Negative inflation is likely to be of more concern to German policy makers than it is to their Spanish counterparts today, with low prices being seen as good news for Spanish consumers and the economy as a whole. Elsewhere, attention will focus on Greek GDP, with the possibility that the latest data may underline some of the lingering difficulties between Greece and its EU partners.
The Corner | February 26, 2015 | Markets will be closely observing a swathe of data from the EU after positive figures from Germany and Spain. The consumer and business confidence indexes and the industrial and economic sentiment surveys are due to be published later this morning.
MADRID | February 24, 2015 | By Carlos Díaz Güell | Spanish banks’ NPLs rate went down by 1.1% in 2014 standing at 12.5% thanks to the sharp fall of the delinquency rate (12.5% year on year) that offset the impact of banks’ reducing their lending activity. In fact, if lending had remained stable in 2014 (it went down by -4.6%), the default rate would have been of 11%.
MADRID | The Corner | Spanish exports continue to grow, posting an annual rise of 2.5% in 2014, according to figures released on Wednesday, exceeding €240 billion for the first time. The country’s trade deficit currently stands at €24.5 billion, with imports rising by 8.3% year-on-year, leading to a 53.4% rise in the commercial deficit.
MADRID| Sean Duffy | Nobody knows how the Greece debt negotiations will turn out, but aren´t we all getting a little tired of the saga?
MADRID | The Corner | The purchase of large swathes of Spanish land by US hedge fund Lone Star is further compelling evidence that the Spanish property market is staging a recovery. This investment signifies that the improvement in the market will soon be seen in the residential sector, having previously been confined to the retails and commercial markets.
MADRID | By Francisco López | The successful launch of the Aena IPO has been interpreted as a sign of confidence in the recovery of the Spanish economy. The airport operator was floated last week and saw gains of 20.6%, but the headline grabbing investment from international funds such as BlackRock, Templeton, Fidelity or Capital Group has given credence to the sense that Spain is an increasingly attractive proposition for investors.
MADRID | The Corner | EU posts marginal growth stats, but the figures are indicative of slow pace of recovery.