Spain Business Brief - Monday April 13 2009
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By h.b. - Apr 13, 2009 - 12:37 PM
The Prime Minister meets with his three Deputy Prime Ministers to discuss unemployment

The increase in unemployment in Spain was at the centre of a meeting in the Moncloa Palace this morning between the Prime Minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, with his three Deputy Prime Ministers, María Teresa Fernández de la Vega, and the newly appointed Elena Salgado and Manuel Chaves.
Elena Salgado, the new Minister for the Economy, goes on to meet with the Minister for Employment, Celestino Corbacho, later in the day, again to discuss unemployment which now affects 3.2 million people in Spain. Salgado has underlined that the fight against unemployment is the priority of her department.

There are reports that the banks are giving mortgage credits again in Spain, but in many cases this is because they are now the owners of the flats and houses confirmed.
Reports indicate there is more flexibility finally reaching the market, but that this is the reason, and comes as one of the consequences of the economic crisis. The banks are also reported to be offering discounts of upto 30% on some of the properties which they now own.

The other side of the property coin is seen in the news that not a single VPO assisted house was completed in January. The data from the Ministry for Development shows zero VPO in the month in the regions of Aragón, Asturias, Cantabria, Valencia, Extremadura, Navarra, País Vasco and La Rioja.
Across the country as a whole, 500 VPO homes were completed, nearly half of them in Madrid.
It comes as the large constructors federation in Spain has called for the new Development Minister to up spending on public works, and to bring forward projects for motorways and freight railway transport.

El Mundo reports today that the Cajasol savings bank is giving credits to politicians in debt.
The bank gave new finance last year to the PSOE, Socialists, IU left wingers, and PA, Andalucian party despite the fact they all had pending debts. It has been claimed that all the loans were brought up to date, but the newspaper says it’s not clear how exactly.
Cajasol was formed by the merger between the Sevilla Caja San Fernando and El Monte savings banks.

Some Spanish banks have announced that they are to close some smaller branches were they have just one employee, and others have started to use a travelling bank, which visits the smaller villages once a week.
Meanwhile El Corte Inglés is now the leader in consumer credits in Spain. The company’s financial arm controlled 35.6% of the consumer credits granted last year worth a total of 7.6 billion €. The number was however down 2.25% on 2007, but that fall was less than the average reduction, 7.6% seen in the consumer credit sector.
Banco Santander was second last year with 16% of the market.

The Ministry for Industry has approved help for the sector of 261 million. The help will be given in the form of interest-free loans, and the maximum payback period will be 15 years. The money budgeted is for this year and next.

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