Spain carried out most cuts in OECD, de Guindos

No other country in the OECD "implemented measures to cut the deficit as deeply and quickly as Spain", Spanish Economy Minister Luis de Guindos said today, opening a Spanish-German entrepreneurial summit at the Moncloa Palace. The summit is attended by one hundred top companies from the two countries. De Guindos assured that Spain "is doing in the economy sector what Germany did ten years ago" with reforms to improve the labour market and competitiveness and tackle its financial problems, which will have "significant and very positive consequences" on the future of the economy. Listing all the reforms carried out, the minister focused in particular on financial measures which will be completed in the next few weeks and will enable Spain to position well in the rating of European banks. He defined an "important step" the reform of the labour market and said Spain will make the most significant effort in structural terms within the OECD in order to reduce the 9% deficit recorded in 2011 to the 2.8% agreed for 2014. "No other country will carry out such a deep, quick and relevant recovery", he said. Among the measures planned in the next few months, de Guindos has announced a new law on the unity of the market, a change in regulation authorities and the development of new financial instruments for small and medium-sized companies, of a Liquidity Fund for autonomous regions and the liberalization of professions. De Guindos said Spain has registered "a trade surplus with the euro zone" and has significantly reduced its trade deficit with Germany thanks to a decrease of imports and "an extremely adequate evolution" of exports. Among the "objective data" concerning the good health of the Spanish economy, de Guindos stressed the moderation of labour costs, a reduction in financing needs and in the level of private debt, which in 2017-2018 will be very similar to the rest of Europe. In the first six months of the year, Spanish exports to Germany totalled 11,822 billion euros and imports were worth 13.924 billion with a coverage rate of 84.9% against Spain. The trade re-balance was due to the crisis given that in 2007 Madrid sold to Berlin less than half of what it bought. Since then exports have grown 10% by some 2 billion euros and German imports have decreased by a third to reach 13 billion euros.