budget deficit
October 24th, 2012
Spain is the country which has the fifth highest marginal rate of income tax in the world, after climbing to 52% in 2012, seven points higher than a year earlier, according to KPMG consultants’ annual study on personal income tax rates and contributions to Social Security. Only four countries, three of ...
Continue reading Spain’s Income Tax Fifth Highest in the World
August 9th, 2012
The Spanish economy will shrink by 1.4% both in 2012 and in 2013 because of persistent financial strains and lack of concrete solutions at the EU level, says the BBVA. They further predict that the unemployment rate will touch 26% next year and are calling for Europe to reduce the ...
Continue reading BBVA Revises Forecast for Spanish Economy
May 23rd, 2012
At a luncheon organized by KPMG and Europa Press, the Spanish Minister of Industry, Energy and Tourism, José Manuel Soria, said that "there is no provision" on the table of the Government for a VAT increase for the tourism sector next year. Soria explained that if a tax increase were to ...
Continue reading Government Has No Plans to Increase VAT in Tourism Sector
July 13th, 2011
Caja Mediterráneo (CAM) is continuing with its cost reduction plans, to be implemented this year, which will result in the closure of a total of 122 branches, 27% of their total network. The bank are confident the implementation of its recapitalisation strategy will yield "rather positive results". These cost reduction measures ...
Continue reading CAM Bank to Close 122 Branches
July 4th, 2011
The executive council of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has chosen by consensus to elect French Finance Minister, Christine Lagarde, as the new managing director of the fund for the next five years, announced the IMF in a statement. Lagarde, who replaces the ex-chief of the IMF, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who resigned ...
Continue reading IMF Chooses Christine Lagarde as New Chief
June 20th, 2011
The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has disqualified Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer from running for the post of Managing Director of the Fund, due to his advanced age. As reported in Europa Press, referring to 67 year old Stanley Fischer, the Executive Board outlined the IMF ...
Continue reading IMF Narrows Candidate List for Post of MD
June 9th, 2011
The ratings agency Moody's has published an analysis of the impact of the budget of the Generalitat of Catalonia, which forecasts a deficit of 2.66%, double the target set by the Government. Moody's believes that this Catalan fiscal challenge demonstrates that the central Government has no effective tools to impose ...
Continue reading Moody's Warns Catalonia’s Fiscal Challenge May Harm Spain's Solvency
May 30th, 2011
The future president of the European Central Bank (ECB), Italy's Mario Draghi, said on Friday that euro zone countries should expect, in the long term, further rises in interest rates and rising inflationary pressures. In an economic conference in Berlin organised by Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Draghi warned ...
Continue reading Draghi Warns Further Rates Increases Likely
May 20th, 2011
Euro zone finance ministers have proposed that Italian Central Bank President, Mario Draghi, replace Jean-Claude Trichet as President of the European Central Bank (ECB), reported Euro Group Chairman Jean-Claude Juncker. Juncker said that "Mario Draghi will be the new president of the ECB" and that the Italian banker has "an excellent ...
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April 7th, 2011
Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said he will step down before elections next year, triggering a succession contest as the government tries to steer Spain out of the sovereign debt crisis. Zapatero, who said in 2004 he only wanted to sit for two four-year terms, has already approached the opposition ...
Continue reading Spain Faces Political Uncertainty as Zapatero Steps Down
April 5th, 2011
Artur Mas, premier of the autonomous Spanish region of Catalonia, has committed his administration to severe austerity, but rejected as “destructive” and “mad” the spending cuts that would be needed to fulfil the central government’s 2011 deficit targets for the regions. Mr Mas, in a speech to business leaders in Madrid ...
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March 30th, 2011
Airport workers in Spain have called off 22 days of strikes which threatened to cause major disruption over the Easter holidays and into the summer. Union members voted to cancel the strike after receiving guarantees over job security and conditions. The strikes were called over concerns about the part-privatisation of national airport ...
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March 29th, 2011
After fears last year that Spain could follow Greece and Ireland in requiring a bailout from the EU, 2011 has been a year of relative optimism for the Spanish economy. The government’s swift measures to cut the budget deficit and tackle Spain’s weak savings bank system have done much to warrant ...
Continue reading Economics – Spain: 1, Portugal: 0
March 28th, 2011
A Portuguese bail-out has been considered a racing certainty by many investors since the end of last year. Now the government has fallen, it seems inevitable. Portuguese politicians continued to insist on Thursday that they would not seek financial assistance but the amount of bonds that the country needs to sell ...
Continue reading What Will a Portuguese Bail-Out Mean for Spain?
March 25th, 2011
Moody’s, the credit rating agency, has downgraded the senior debt and deposit ratings of 30 Spanish banks following its downgrade of the Spanish credit rating two weeks ago. The multiple downgrades announced on Thursday also reflect the declining systemic importance of smaller lenders and regional institutions, which has led Moody’s to ...
Continue reading Spanish Banks Resilient Despite Moody's Downgrade
