Spain has been hit hard in the 2008 financial crisis but now it has recovered.
It has been seven years since the last financial crisis wrecked the global economy with Spain being among the countries that took the hardest hit. Today, Mr Juan Manuel López-Nadal, Consul General of Spain in Hong Kong, says the country’s economy has recovered and now he sees “an excellent opportunity to invest in Spain.”
The Europe Committee of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce organises a series of briefings on European countries and today’s feature is Spain. Speaking at the seminar alongside Mr López-Nadal were Mr Javier Sanz, Spanish Trade Commissioner; Mr Bernardo Cabot, Vice President of Sol Meliá in Asia and Ms Lourdes Hernansanz, Real Estate Consultant, Hong Kong Sotheby’s International Realty.
“The recession of Spain is over, there’s no doubt about it,” says Mr Sanz. GDP growth for last year is estimated to be 1.4% and 1.5% for this year. A year after Spain has exited from its bailout package, the country sees its economic figures bouncing back. 417,574 jobs were created last year in Spain and the unemployment rate was down from 25.73% in 2013 to 24.2% last year.
Yesterday, the European Central Bank announced its €1 trillion bond-buying program to tackle the deflation problem in the eurozone. The quantitative easing will likely provide stimulus to the European markets, including Spain’s economy. However, the election in Greece this Sunday will create some uncertainty in the eurozone as the anti-austerity opposition party Syriza, which is leading the polls, has pledged to default on its debt and end the austerity programme.
