hollywoodtone.blogspot.com Around 60 percent of Spanish population is worse off from 2013
hollywoodtone.blogspot.com Around 60 percent of Spanish population is worse off from 2013
Madrid - Spain's center-right newspaper, El Mundo, published the results of a survey on Tuesday, showing that despite Prime MInister Rajoy's assurances that things are better, 60 percent of the Spanish population has less money coming in than they did a year ago.
Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has been going on record in the media as saying that things are getting better in Spain, that people mustn't worry, everything will be OK. He said that all his economic predictions had come true, and after a difficult first six months of the year, this then gave way to macroeconomic improvement in the second half of the year. However, after a survey was run by El Mundo (Spanish language), the results show that his boasts don't really bear any fruit. The survey showed that only 3.7 percent of families in Spain have more money than they did at the end of 2012. Worse, it proved that around two out of every three Spanish nationals believes that Spain's economic situation is actually more dire in 2013 than it was before, with a mere 13 percent saying things are better. The differences between the age groups on a total sample of 1,000 people are great, however. While the percentage of those who recognize that income has fallen is 64 percent among citizens 30 to 44 years and between 45 and 64, among the youngest group (18-29 years) and the oldest (65) it stands at 50 percent. Rajoy had announced in Parliament that the closure of the country's bank rescue package and the end of Spain's recession were signs that the economy was on the rise to improvement. He said that Spain's "record" growth in exports, which currently runs at around 6 percent is improving things further. He promised that 2014 would be a major step for Spain offering more new jobs. However, this may all be bluster and "bread and circus" to try to keep the people happy, as the poll tends to show. Unemployment remains currently at 25.98 percent, with over half of the young population unable to find work or even to leave their parents' homes. The country's public debt is currently around 100 percent of gross domestic product. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Spain is likely to face at least five more years of unemployment above 25 percent - hardly a reason to celebrate. Unemployment benefits soon become scarce, as many people, unemployed for a long period of time with no hope of employment have already lost their basic subsistence benefits of 426 euros a month. The basic, minimum wage in Spain is the lowest in Europe and is frozen at 645.30 euros per month for 2014. On the other end of the scale, for those about to retire, pensions are set to rise by a mere .25 percent. With electricity and transport costs rising in 2014, even the currently stable prices for the basic consumer goods are set to rise, making life even harder. However, thankfully the threatened 11 percent increase in the electricity price was, at least, dropped to a lower 2.3 percent. The economic pages of Spain's El País newspaper (Spanish language) are also reporting that in 2014, wages will be down and prices will be up and that despite Rajoy's proclamation of 2014 as the year of "early recovery", households will notice little relief in their economies. It is thus likely that the average Spaniard will be tightening their belt in the coming new year, not relaxing on the promises of the ruling party.
hollywoodtone.blogspot.com Around 60 percent of Spanish population is worse off from 2013