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Spain Business Brief - Tuesday August 31 2010
The increase in IVA/VAT which came into effect on July 1 has already had the effect of reducing Spain’s State deficit by half. It now stands at 25.774 billion € for the year to July or at 2.44% of G.D.P. Last year the number was 49.801 billion.
Income from IVA/VAT increased by 95% compared to July last year, bringing in 7.427 billion for the treasury.
It’s the first large improvement in the numbers since the start of the recession and the Ministry for Economy and Hacienda says that it comes as the result of a 3.8% drop in spending at 103.673 billion and a 34.4% increase in income at 77.899 billion.
Income from IRPF income tax was up 5.3% at 41.856 billion following the ending of the 400 € tax rebate scheme except at lowest income levels.
However income from Company Tax was down 9.8% for the year to July at 6.247 billion.
Income from special taxes on tobacco was up 7.9%, petrol up 4.4%, and alcohol down 0.5%.
State personnel costs were up 3.1%, with wages up 1.3%, nearly a point lower than last year.
Spain has seen no progress however in bringing down the unemployment rate which at 20.3% leads Europe in all the categories. Across the Eurozone as a whole, unemployment in July was stable at 10% for the fifth consecutive month.
The Social Security surplus fell by 28.7% in the year to July, and now stands at 6.135 billion for the first half of the year. Secretary of State for Social Security, Octavio Granado, underlined that the number ‘far higher’ than that forecast in the budgets.
Following on from comments made on Monday from the CEO of Telefónica that the company wanted to charge more to internet users who downloaded the most, considering the current financial model as not viable, now comes a comment from Vodafone España. Francisco Román has warned of the risk of fragmentation in the sector under the new plan proposed by the Ministry for Industry, and called for the mobile spectrum here not to shared out between too many companies.
Norwegian company Yoigo has meanwhile promised to invest in 4G technologies if the company can count on the support of the Government. President, Johan Andsjö, said that the ‘refarming’ process under preparation by the Government needed to be a just one.
Telefónica has announced the creation of a new business digital services division to boost income. The new unit will have seven divisions, video, health services, applications, security, financial services, value added services and machine to machine, and comes into operation on September 1 concentrating on the development of services and products linked to the internet. The company says it wants to lead the digital future.
The number of new mortgages granted in Spain fell by 10.8% in June compared to the same month last year. It’s the second consecutive fall, following on from the drop of 2.9% in May, according to the National Statistics Institute. The poorer numbers come as the Euribor is back on the rise and mortgages getting their annual revision in August face increased payments.
Latest tourist numbers for July show an increase in the number of travellers, both national and foreign, at 2.85 million, up from 2.71 million last year, but also that holidays in apartments, rural houses and camping sites are getting shorter. The average stay in July was 1.4% shorter than in the same month last year at 5.9 nights. The cost of renting an apartment this year was on average 2.1% higher this July compared to last according to the data from the National Statistics Institute. The INE says that Britons and Germans prefer apartments, while the French and Dutch choose camping.
Workers in the AutoRes coach company have been meeting to prepare a new calendar of stoppages. They have criticised the ‘distant position’ of the company saying they have not heard from them, and have made a call for the Ministry for Development to intervene in the dispute. The workers started more strike action at 2pm today, Tuesday, and it will continue until the same time on Wednesday, making it the ninth day of strike action. They are considering further stoppages over weekends from now until December if an agreement on job security is not reached and sacking plans withdrawn.
And finally,
A third of public companies in Spain had some form of irregularity in their accounts in the 2008 financial year. A total of 69 of the 225 public bodies checked were found lacking according to internal controls.
Income from IVA/VAT increased by 95% compared to July last year, bringing in 7.427 billion for the treasury.
It’s the first large improvement in the numbers since the start of the recession and the Ministry for Economy and Hacienda says that it comes as the result of a 3.8% drop in spending at 103.673 billion and a 34.4% increase in income at 77.899 billion.
Income from IRPF income tax was up 5.3% at 41.856 billion following the ending of the 400 € tax rebate scheme except at lowest income levels.
However income from Company Tax was down 9.8% for the year to July at 6.247 billion.
Income from special taxes on tobacco was up 7.9%, petrol up 4.4%, and alcohol down 0.5%.
State personnel costs were up 3.1%, with wages up 1.3%, nearly a point lower than last year.
Spain has seen no progress however in bringing down the unemployment rate which at 20.3% leads Europe in all the categories. Across the Eurozone as a whole, unemployment in July was stable at 10% for the fifth consecutive month.
The Social Security surplus fell by 28.7% in the year to July, and now stands at 6.135 billion for the first half of the year. Secretary of State for Social Security, Octavio Granado, underlined that the number ‘far higher’ than that forecast in the budgets.
Following on from comments made on Monday from the CEO of Telefónica that the company wanted to charge more to internet users who downloaded the most, considering the current financial model as not viable, now comes a comment from Vodafone España. Francisco Román has warned of the risk of fragmentation in the sector under the new plan proposed by the Ministry for Industry, and called for the mobile spectrum here not to shared out between too many companies.
Norwegian company Yoigo has meanwhile promised to invest in 4G technologies if the company can count on the support of the Government. President, Johan Andsjö, said that the ‘refarming’ process under preparation by the Government needed to be a just one.
Telefónica has announced the creation of a new business digital services division to boost income. The new unit will have seven divisions, video, health services, applications, security, financial services, value added services and machine to machine, and comes into operation on September 1 concentrating on the development of services and products linked to the internet. The company says it wants to lead the digital future.
The number of new mortgages granted in Spain fell by 10.8% in June compared to the same month last year. It’s the second consecutive fall, following on from the drop of 2.9% in May, according to the National Statistics Institute. The poorer numbers come as the Euribor is back on the rise and mortgages getting their annual revision in August face increased payments.
Latest tourist numbers for July show an increase in the number of travellers, both national and foreign, at 2.85 million, up from 2.71 million last year, but also that holidays in apartments, rural houses and camping sites are getting shorter. The average stay in July was 1.4% shorter than in the same month last year at 5.9 nights. The cost of renting an apartment this year was on average 2.1% higher this July compared to last according to the data from the National Statistics Institute. The INE says that Britons and Germans prefer apartments, while the French and Dutch choose camping.
Workers in the AutoRes coach company have been meeting to prepare a new calendar of stoppages. They have criticised the ‘distant position’ of the company saying they have not heard from them, and have made a call for the Ministry for Development to intervene in the dispute. The workers started more strike action at 2pm today, Tuesday, and it will continue until the same time on Wednesday, making it the ninth day of strike action. They are considering further stoppages over weekends from now until December if an agreement on job security is not reached and sacking plans withdrawn.
And finally,
A third of public companies in Spain had some form of irregularity in their accounts in the 2008 financial year. A total of 69 of the 225 public bodies checked were found lacking according to internal controls.
(You can find a photo for this story at Typically Spanish - Click here)