Francisco Vidal | Convergence with the main European nations in terms of levels of welfare and wealth has been one of Spain’s major objectives for longer than we would have liked, and the situation, far from improving, has worsened in recent times. In the year 2000, Spain’s real GDP per capita was equivalent to 95.6% of that of the current 27 EU countries as a whole; a figure that fell…
Henry McCaw | In 2011, France dominated the European PPP market, accounting for 62% of the overall market value. According to the World Bank, this was reflected in the “wave of new ‘social infrastructure’ investments in health, education, defense, transport and urban planning sectors.” In the water sector, France is a global leader in private sector participation, with three French companies, Veolia, Suez and SAUR, dominating on the world stage. The French model of concession agreements in the water sector has increasingly been adopted in developing countries.
Alphavalue | ll governments around the world are faced with the fact that growth comes from investing in education, the environment and possibly infrastructures. The pandemic has de facto killed an old and simplistic idea that the lower the taxes, the better. Without public resources, there would have been no way of dealing with the pandemic. So supporters of reasonable corporate taxes have returned to the scene, starting with Spain, the UK for its next budget and now the US.
Claudia Canals and Oriol Carreras Baquer (Caixabank)| Given the importance of investment in intangibles for boosting the digital transition, we wonder what impact NGEU will have on this type of investment. To answer this question, first we estimate the average increase in the relative weight of investment in intangibles as a proportion of GDP in Spain between 1995 and 2017. We then measure the impact that NGEU will have on investment in intangibles, considering in the calculation the carry-over effect that this programme could have on private investment.
Morgan Stanley | The size of the Recovery Fund is very relevant, equivalent to 5% of the European Union’s GDP (10-15% in Greece, Spain and Italy). In contrast to the US, where the fiscal stimulus has been earmarked for more immediate/current spending, in Europe most of it is devoted to future investment with a long-lasting effect over the next 3-5 years. This long term duration is the key concept and the fundamental reason for our preference.
Invest in Spain | According to the Foreign Investments Registry at the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, gross FDI (holding companies and non-holding companies) received in Spain in the second quarter of 2020 amounted to 5,009 million euros, an increase of 83% over the figure for the previous quarter. Furthermore, foreign investment increased in all modalities.
On Thursday, Parliament approved the 2021 Budget with the support of 11 parties and 188 votes, including Catalan and Basque separatists. Thus, the future of the new accounts, the first of the minority, left-leaning coalition government, is finally clear. They would come into effect on January 1, leaving behind those of 2018, drawn up by the previous PP government and still in force. The budgetary plan includes broad tax increases and the birth of the Tobin and Google taxes.
Naturgy signed last week with Snowy Hydro its first energy sales contract with a retailer in Australia to build a 218 MW wind farm in Victoria. Some days later, the company has increased its presence in the country with the award by the Australian Capital Territory of 107 MW wind farm and a battery energy storage system of 20 MWh. With both operations, Naturgy doubles its presence in the region, reaching a renewable capacity of near 600 MW and becoming the Top-3 independent wind energy producer.
The arbitration proceedings started by a series of funds grouped under The PV Investors against Spain within Uncitral (a UN dependent body) have concluded. There was a minimum sentence of € 90M against the Spanish State, compared with the € 1.910 Bn claimed by the litigants. The ruling obliges the litigants to pay costs (of £13M) without any recourse, unless under very exceptional circumstances.
Oriol Carreras and Eduard Llorens i Jimeno (CaixaBank Research) | All the indicators suggest that next year will be defined by the same key elements. As we can see in the first chart, to the extent that global growth, and that of the euro area in particular, remains contained, we do not expect to see a significant surge in exports. Therefore, the foreign sector will continue to provide very modest contributions to growth. Moreover, the global environment will remain a source of risk.