By Luis Arroyo, in Madrid | We either reinforce the political union in the European Monetary Union or let the monster simply die away. These are the actual choices we have, and one must admit that a euro termination does not sound as the craziest option, not after four years of unstoppable recession and walking at the brink of the abyss. It is a possibility no one wants to study,…
By Julia Pastor, in Madrid | Report and counter-report, this seems to be the general trend in talking about the Spanish economy’s health. Wednesday it was the CEEC’s occasion to present a report. The nation-wide competitiveness council integrated by presidents of the big Spanish multinationals assured that “expected losses in the the banking sector are limited. Since 2007, the industry has assumed €190 billion of them, including implications from last…
More tourists so far than last year, but a downward move in traditionally important markets for Spain’s tourism sector. The accumulate figures this year from January to April indicate a rise of 1.1 percent in foreign tourists, with a total of 13.7 million, coming to Spain comparing to the same period in 2011. But April brought a fall in numbers by 4.5 million or 1.7 percent less foreign tourists in contrast…
By Carlos Díaz Guell, in Madrid | May 15, in Madrid, was bank holiday in commemoration of its saint patron San Isidro. But the stock market was opened. The IBEX 35 closed that session at 6,700 points, ranking at September 2003 levels. Drawing on the daily exchange rate of that day, the drop so far this year (fall, thud, even crash if the readers would rather use a harsh word) has been of 22.27 percent and over 53 percent from November 2007. The…
MADRID |Deutsche Bank changed its financing strategy by registering a fixed income prospectus in Spain for the first time in history, as reported by the Spanish journal Expansión. The German entity will issue mainly bonds and mortgage notes for an amount of €15 billion, according to the initial information document, which has been sent to the Spanish Securities Exchange Commision or CNMV. Sources at the bank said that “this decision proves…
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…
Just because most European languages attach a semantic Spartan-like element to the term austerity, it doesn’t follow that austerity must obviously be a more consistent policy than, let’s say, a profligacy programme. Common ancient history aside, the increasing doubts about the German and French economies doing well in spite of the stress the euro zone is going under, tells us that austerity plans currently in place in euro peripheral States were not thoroughly…
By Julia Pastor, in Madrid | The idea of a suffocated Spanish banking sector spreads like fire throughout the markets: Bankia’s nationalisation, Moody’s cut, the French president François Hollande advising to recapitalise the sector… But the International Monetary Fund will publish next week a report that assures 70% of Spain’s financial entities are already restructured. This news should help tame and perhaps even extinguish the flames. Analysts at Madrid’s financial City also…
By Tania Suárez, in Madrid | Pablo Diez, from the asset management department at Nordkapp, explained in a conversation with The Corner that Spain’s unemployment ratio distorts the image the market has about the country’s economy as a whole, and investors believe Spain is at higher risk of default than other euro peripheral countries. He also said that “Spain should be provided with an injection of money issued by the European Central…
NEW YORK | There was a final statement, yet not a consensus about how to tackle the euro zone turmoil. Everyone in Camp David hoped that Greece will remain in the euro. For the first time, the argument that Europe cannot face more spending cuts gained widespread support. G8’s final communiqué showed a big push to German Chancellor Angela Merkel: it is urgent to bring deficits down through austerity measures…