The world economy continues to tackle the severe crisis caused by Covid-19. The pandemic has plummeted the Spanish economy harder than the rest of its European partners. The recovery of activity in the weeks following the end of the confinement has not shown the expected drive during the summer. Against this backdrop, Equipo Económico (Ee) has revised its GDP forecast for this year two points downwards, when the drop in GDP will reach -12.0%. The degree of success and effectiveness of economic policy will very much determine the strength of the recovery.
The new European funds come as a clear opportunity in order to boost the recovery. Despite the fact that the timeline for its implementation continues to expand, so its effective reception will be delayed until well entered the second half of 2021, certain recent advances taken place both in Brussels and at the national level stand out. Several ministries continue to launch public consultations calls to identify projects that would be financed with the new funds.
2021 will be the starting point of the global economic comeback, which will be uneven across regions and sectors. In the latest edition of our report “Ee SPAIN OUTLOOK for Business Strategy” at Equipo Económico (Ee) we foresee that over 2021 and 2022 we will witness an incomplete economic recovery, with a rebound for the Spanish GDP set around 6.5% and 3.2%, respectively. From 2023 on, growth will converge towards a muted potential rate. There is a need in the short term to provide a clear support to businesses. At the same time, profiting from the new European funds, it is time to push forward long delayed structural reforms.
In recent weeks we have been observing an apparently contradictory behaviour of the financial system, in which increases in the stock price concur with main banking entities restructuring processes. But if we analyze it in depth, we will conclude that both processes are closely linked. It is precisely the strategic decisions taken by Spanish banks, of consolidation, cost savings and investment in digitalization, which the market is evaluating positively. Only this way this long period of deterioration in the financial margin can be overcome, pending a recovery in rates and in demand for credit that is not yet in sight on the economic horizon.