Spain outlines economic plans to the City of London

Spain outlines economic plans to the City of London
larger | smaller
By h.b. - Feb 9, 2010 - 6:46 AM

Minister for Tax and the Economy, Elena Salgado - EFE archive

Elena Salgado, Minister for Tax and the Economy, presented a new document in English to London investors

The Spanish Minister for Tax and Economy, Elena Salgado, was in London on Monday together with the Secretary of State for the Economy, José Miguel Campa, to try and convince the City that Spain is making the ‘necessary adjustments’ to reduce the state deficit. A presentation was made during a lunch organised by Barclays, Citi and Santander banks, with the Spanish team also meeting journalists from the Financial Times.

Spain will owe 553 billion € in debt by the end of this year according to the latest predictions. The Ministry for Economy is keen to note that the amount is 55% of G.D.P., some 20% lower than the European average and lower than in countries such as the U.K., France and Germany. Even so international investors have voiced doubts of late that Spain will be able to reduce the debt, and have called for tougher measures from the Government.

The Spanish team said to a hundred or so investors and analysts in London that they can reduce the public deficit from 11 to 3% over the next three years, and that further adjustments would be made beyond the new stability plan to do so.

Some investors think that the large scale economic conditions forecast by the Spanish Government are ‘too optimistic’ compared, for example, to those presented by the International Monetary Fund, but Campa told the press in London that ‘the City had always been relaxed about the Spanish economy’.

Read the document presented in London by the Spanish Government (in English) - here

Meanwhile the Spanish stock market recovered 1% on Monday following the heavy falls seen on Thursday and Friday last week. The Spanish Government is blaming last week’s falls on an attack on Spain by speculators on the market.

Back in Spain the Deputy Prime Minister, María Teresa Fernández de la Vega, said that the opposition Partido Popular should be supporting the Government, unions and employers in the new labour reform designed to exit recession.

Reports breaking on Tuesday indicate that the employers and the unions have reached a pre-agreement to increase wages by 1% this year, 2% next and from 1.5% to 2.5% in 2012.

The Prime Minister has asked to make a statement to Congress on the state of the economy. José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero has been forced to do so as the opposition parties, PP, CiU, PNV and ERC grouped together to make the call. The date expected is February 17 while he will be explaining the measures to the Senate today.

Click here for related stories

mobile |

email this article | print

printer friendly page

More Spain News : National

Readers' comments:
Please keep to the subject. Opinions published here are of our visitors, not the Typically Spanish team. Comments which go against Spanish laws or which are libellous are not allowed. We reserve the right to delete any comment we wish. Placing a comment indicates you have read our terms and conditions and privacy policy.

Por favor, céntrate en el tema. Son las opiniones de los internautas, y no las de Typically Spanish. No está permitido verter comentarios contrarios a las leyes españolas o injuriantes. Reservado el derecho a eliminar los comentarios que consideremos fuera de tema. Escribir un comentario indica que has leído nuestros condiciones de uso y politica de privacidad.