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Doom and Gloom for Spain’s Economy!.jpg) Unemployment in Spain is currently double the average for the euro zone. It is running at 20% with 4.5 million unemployed. In some areas like Cadiz, which has never recovered from the loss of its shipbuilding yards, it’s as much as 32%. Last week, in a bid to avoid a Greek-style deficit crisis, the Prime Minister Jose-Luis Zapatero approved moves to slash public spending by €15 billion, which will include sacking 13,000 civil servants, trimming public sector wages by 5%, and freezing state pensions. The €2,500 ‘baby cheques’ have also been cancelled, which was one of the generous social benefits that Madrid can no longer afford. Those most affected by these austerity measures are planning protest action, with Civil Servants calling for a strike on 8th June.To add to our problems, the euro slid 1.5% yesterday as the collapse of a Spanish bank and a severe warning from the International Monetary Fund provoked more concerns about Spain’s economy. Over the weekend the Bank of Spain was forced to rescue CajaSur, which has 486 branches and €1.5 billion (£1.3 billion) of problem loans. Meanwhile, the IMF made a statement on the problems facing Spain: “The challenges are severe - a dysfunctional labour market, the deflating property bubble, a large fiscal deficit, heavy private sector and external indebtedness, anaemic productivity growth, weak competitiveness, and a banking sector with pockets of weakness,” it said. However, Spain’s Finance Minister Elena Salgado insisted: “Our financial system is absolutely solvent. You can’t say it is at risk because of an institution as small as CajaSur but obviously it is important to send a signal of strength, of control, of solvency.” Noentheless, the IMF called for urgent reforms to Spain’s labour rules and to its banking system. In light of the IMF criticisms, four Spanish Savings Banks are making plans to merge, thus creating the third largest 'caja' in Spain. The four banks are: CAM, Cajastur, Caja Cantabria and Caja Extremadura. A merger means that they will have between them 135 billion € in assets, 2,300 offices and 14,000 employees. The so-called ‘virtual fusion’ will mean that the four savings banks will create a protection system to strengthen their solvency. Each bank will keep its own governing bodies, but policies related to financial control and regulatory requirements will be made common. Another development following the collapse of the CajaSur bank, has been the announcement that the rest of the cajas are planning to alleviate their financial problems by renting out some of the many properties they now find on their books, either from repossessions after failed mortgage repayments, or from broke builders. This is seen as a new source of income for the troubled sector. At the end of 2009 there were 137,000 flats on the books of the savings banks across the country, which will now be offered to rent via the Sociedad Pública de Alquiler, SPA thanks to an agreement reached with the Savings Bank Confederation (CECA). The CECA general director, José Antonio Olavarrieta, said they wanted to deal with a single body to centralise the rental market and this was now possible thanks to the plan. This also helps Government plans to increase the rental sector in Spain towards a 20% target in 2020. It now stands at 13%. By Tressa Davey May 25, 2010
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