The electoral program of the PP for the general elections on July 23 incorporates a structural cut in income for public arcades of 20,000 million euros which, if not offset, would mean an increase in the deficit of 1.5 points of GDP. The warning was made this Wednesday by the First Vice President and Minister of Economic Affairs, Nadia Calviño, who has branded the economic plan of the main opposition party as “unknown.”
During his participation in an informative breakfast organized by Europa Press, Calviño explained that “unless there is a hidden agenda of massive cuts (…) Spain would not meet its fiscal objectives”, if it implemented the measures proposed by the formation of Alberto Núñez Feijoo. “I intuit that there is a hidden program, because if not, I don’t understand it,” he pointed out.
The ‘number two’ of the Executive has also registered that the popular’s promise to reduce personal income tax to incomes below 40,000 euros does not appear in his economic program. “One thing is what is said, another thing is what is written and I suppose that something else is what is done”, commented the Galician. Among other things, she has criticized the PP’s claim to eliminate the Iberian solution in gas, understanding that it has been a “key” measure to moderate inflation.
The CPI dropped last month at 1.9% in the annual rate, its lowest level since April 2021, and which places Spain as the first major economy in the Eurozone to place the rise in prices below the target at medium term rate of 2% set by the European Central Bank (ECB). The head of Economy has assured that she would like the Iberian mechanism not to be necessary in the future because prices have stabilized, although she defends that it is a “safety net” that generates peace of mind for Spanish companies.
Agreement to build a semiconductor R&D center
The vice-president has also announced an agreement of intent with Imec, the world reference institute for semiconductor research and development, based in Belgium, to establish its second microchip R&D center in Spain. This pact would be added to those previously reached with industry giants such as Intel, Cisco or Broadcom.
The last one was announced last week by the American chip company Broadcom, which has promised to build a semiconductor factory in our country in which it plans to invest 1,000 million dollars (around 920 million euros at current exchange rates). . The San Jose, California-based firm, listed on the Nasdaq technology, is a global designer, developer, manufacturer and supplier of a wide range of semiconductor and infrastructure software products.
Banks will remunerate deposits better due to competition
In relation to banking, the head of Economy considers that the entities will end up remunerating deposits better due to a mere question of competition. “If there is strong competition, then they have to compete for customers”, and he has indicated that the Government is working with the National Commission for Markets and Competition (CNMC) to verify if this competition problem exists.
“I refer to the statements of a representative of the bank, who said ‘we will remunerate the liabilities not because a person says so, but because of competition’. In short, they said it themselves: if there is competition they will have to start remunerating the liabilities” , has settled, citing the statements of the CEO of Banco Sabadell, César González Bueno.
Another of the arguments that he has given is that “there is a saving that is seeking remuneration”, which from his point of view is very well reflected by the fact that there is an “enormous retail demand” for public debt, especially bills of the Treasury, where the demand of small savers already reaches 17% of the total.
GDP can grow above 2.1%
After the wave of upward revisions to the growth forecast for Spain made by national and international organizations in recent weeks, the Government expects the economy to grow even above the 2.1% that it had incorporated in the Stability Program sent to Brussels a few months ago. “Right now, with the data we have for the first semester, it is clear that we are going to be above the growth forecast of the Government and that is what all the organizations see,” he assured.
However, it has influenced the message of prudence that is usually conveyed on this matter, stressing that, if the next legislature continues as financial manager, it will update the macroeconomic picture when the new budget plan is sent to Brussels in autumn. “I don’t see any benefit from constantly changing forecasts”, he reiterated, after recalling that Spain recovered the level of GDP GDP GDP It took a decade to return to growth prior to the 2008 financial crisis.
