Business financing
In 2017, the financing of non-financial companies in Spain originating in fixed income and variable income totalled €10.5bn and €26.8bn respectively, while the net flow of bank loans decreased by €7bn. This situation starkly contrasts with the pre-crisis period, when the flow of bank financing represented almost 21% of GDP (€211.6bn).
Currently, Spain is one of the countries with the greatest increase in the weight of financing originating in fixed income instruments since 2007, mainly explained by the development of the MARF*, changes in financial regulation and the purchase of private fixed income by the ECB.
* MARF: Alternative Fixed-Income Market
Women on boards
In 2017, women (258 out of a total of 1,347) held 19.15% of the total board positions of listed companies in Spain.
Despite advancing almost 14pp since 2005, this figure is far from the EU average (25.3%) and the objective (30%) for 2020 proposed by the Spanish Securities Market Commission (CNMV).
Doing Business 2019
According to the latest issue of Doing Business (World Bank), an index ranking 190 countries on the ease of doing business, Spain slips two positions to rank 30 while New Zealand, Singapore and Denmark are in the lead.
By topics of business regulation, only the following two indicator sets experienced improvement: dealing with construction permits and enforcing contracts. Lower score obtained for: getting credit, protecting minority investors, registering property, and getting electricity.
Euro area trade in goods
In September, euro area exports of goods to the rest of the world fell by 1% year-on-year, while imports grew by 6.4%, recording a 48% lower trade surplus than in September 2017.
In cumulative terms, from January to September, exports rose 3.6% year-on-year to €1.68tn, and imports by 5.8% to €1.54tn, with the trade surplus decreasing by 15.5% year-on-year (to 1.3% of the euro area GDP).
The evolution of fintech
In the first half of 2018, global fintech investment skyrocketed by 259% year-onyear to reach $57.9bn (0.07% of global GDP) in 875 deals.
The UK led the way in attracting fintech investment, accounting for 27.8% of total global investment and 61.9% of European investment. The US accounted for 24.5% of the world total. Moreover, Asia has experienced the highest growth of any region (409.1% year-on-year).
“Superstar” firms
According to the McKinsey Global Institute, among the 575 companies that comprise the “superstars firms*”, China has gone from having none in 1997 to account for 8% of the total in 2016. This development coincides with that of the Asia-Pacific region for which his type of company has increased from 15% in 1997 to 22% in 2016, while it has lost weight in Western Europe, the US and Canada.
*10% of the 5,750 largest companies worldwide (public & private) with annual revenue exceeding $1bn
Venezuelan crisis impact
Venezuela’s oil revenues account for 95% of export earnings. Its oil production has fallen to the record lows of the last 7 decades*. This situation exacerbates the current economic contraction scenario (real GDP: -18% and hyperinflation topping one million percent), in which the strong socio-economic deterioration has caused more than 1.5 million Venezuelans (5% of the population) to flee the country over the past 4 years.
*It is estimated that the refineries are operating at ¼ of their capacity
