Spain Business Brief - Tuesday June 9 2009
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By h.b. - Jun 9, 2009 - 12:35 PM
House sales continue to collapse in Spain

House sales in Spain for the first quarter of the year collapsed to a total of 104,793. The number is 16.3% lower than the last quarter of 2008 and as much as 34.2% lower than that seen for the same period in 2008, and is the lowest ever seen since the Ministry for Housing started keeping the statistic in 2004. There was little difference between new or resale properties in terms of lost sales, although the resale market was slightly more active than the new property market for the first time since the bubble burst.

The Minister for Tax and the Economy, Elena Salgado, has said that Spain is creating employment once again. Now, she said, is what needs to happen is for the employment to be created in sufficient quantity and in a stable way. She also repeated an earlier statement promising a new bank rescue fund which is to be approved this month.

That news comes as we hear details of an agreement between the Government and the Partido Popular on how to give help to the banks. The Minister and Shadow Minister Cristobal Montoro and Octavio Granado, have agreed to give the new restructuring fund 90 billion €. However it seems there is no such cross-party agreement on how the money should be used. The PP is also demanding more transparency when help is given, and not the secret action as seen in the intervention of the Caja Castilla-La Mancha.

The OECD has confirmed that the deterioration in the advanced economies is slowing down, and their forecasts are in line with the latest from the Bank of Spain which thinks that the economy will shrink less between April and June. The OECD says the signs of a possible inflexion in the state of the economy are strongest in France, Italy and the UK.

The Realia real estate company has refinanced part of its debt. Payments on 900 million of its 2.342 billion € debt have been put on hold for three years under the deal.

And finally,
The European Council of Ministers has formally approved the reduction in mobile phone tariffs when travelling across the continent. The new prices come into effect on July 1.
Calls made from one country to another in Europe must now cost no more than 43 cents per minute to make, and no more than 19 cents per minute to receive when you are out of your native country.
SMS text messages have been pegged at a maximum price of 11 cents, plus IVA/VAT.

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