When it comes to growth, does the end always justify the means?
MADRID | By Álex García.
Spain
Spain and Portugal are the Eurozone countries at most risk of “prolonged low inflation”
MADRID | The Corner | Internal demand is recovering within the euro area, activity is getting back on track and experts believe that companies are about to start investing, hiring more workers and boosting consumption. However, credit flow, the production gap and unemployment are still major challenges. Analysts at Cortal Consors think that Spain and Portugal are the Eurozone countries most at risk of a “prolonged period of low inflation or mild deflation.”
Eurozone absorbs 50% of the Spanish exports
MADRID | The Corner | One of the risks of the Spanish economy is the significant lost of dynamism in the Eurozone. The latest data of the balance of trade published on Monday explain such fear. Thus, the Spanish exports registered last September a year-on-year rate of 9.6% (-5.1% from the previous month).
Eurozone crisis is taking its toll on Spain
MADRID | By Francisco López | Spain is not an oasis inside the Eurozone. The 18 main private research services believe that the slowdown in the European economy is already taking its toll on Spain. Besides, they forecast that Spanish GDP will grow slower than expected in the last quarter of 2014 (0.4%) versus 0.5% of the third quarter or 0.6% of the second quarter.
Spanish banks: Expectations get more complicated after eurozone’s slump
MADRID | By Francisco López | The Spanish banks performed well in the latest stress tests. All in all, they achieved acceptable results for the third quarter of 2014. The problem, say the experts, could arise in the months ahead: the European Commission has drastically reduced its forecasts for the eurozone’s main economies,and as everybody knows, growth is essential for banking activity.
Do not expect credit to start flowing immediately in the eurozone
MADRID | By Luis Arroyo | As the ECB’s stress tests showed, Spanish banks have enough capital to face a serious economic crisis, with a GDP contraction of 5%. However, this does not mean that Spanish lenders are going to start lending credit right now. Up to present nobody has been preventing them from doing so, and yet credit is not flowing.
European Investment Bank will not fund national energy sector updates
BRUSSELS | By Alexandre Mato | The EU hopes to set up a new policy framework targeting the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by improving renewable energy by 2030. The continent´s energy efficiency would be improved with utilities companies and operators operating under the auspices of the directive. It could be a crucial step, designed to save €100bn annually for consumers –most of them households.
Spain will grow in 2014… hampered by Europe’s stagnation
MADRID | By Julia Pastor | It is likely that the Spanish government will revise its growth forecasts upwards for the country in 2014, but only by one tenth of a percentage point-to 1.3%. This is likely to be the submission that the Ministry of Economy together with the Ministry of Finance will give to the next Council of Ministers.
Change of pace in Europe: Spain, Portugal, Ireland and Belgium will lead growth between 2015 and 2016
MADRID | By Julia Pastor | ECB’s Mario Draghi brought put the bleak panorama that the Eurozone’s economy is facing on the table, and we saw it again reflected in the not-so-promising September manufacturing PMI. The index came in at 50.5 compared to 50.7 in the prior month, whereas EZ Services PMI accelerated at 52.8 for September versus 53.1 in August. Even the composite index plummeted to its lowest fee in the last nine months and reached 52.3. In Germany, both manufacturing and services indexes have also decreased; while in France only manufacturing improved, although it is still contracting.
How caution resulted on a weak TLTRO
MADRID | By Julia Pastor | The first TLTRO auction will not make history for its significance. Eurozone banks only asked for €82.6 billion, from which €14.147 million will go to Spanish entities (Santander €3bn; Caixabank €3bn; Popular 2.847 bn ; Bankia 2.7bn and BBVA 2.6bn), much less than the expected 100-150 billion, was firstly interpreted as a poor credit demand, although a second reading shows that lenders were right to be cautions.