MADRID, 14 Ago. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The first vice-president of the Government and acting Minister of Economic Affairs, Nadia Calviño, assured this Monday that Spain “is leaving behind the era of high inflation” after having stabilized the CPI at around 2% and core inflation close to 6 %, “well below the European Union average”.
Calviño, in statements to TVE collected by Europa Press, recalled that, in order to contain prices and help families, the Government has extended “very powerful measures” until the end of the year, for example the reduction in VAT on staple foods, including the removal of this tax on some of those staple foods.
The minister stressed that food prices are being affected “in a very important way” by the weather situation (drought), as well as by the price of grain exports from Ukraine, which influence the costs of the food sector cereals.
“That is why we have to remain vigilant from the Government of Spain, taking the most effective measures at all times and supporting citizens and companies so that we can continue to improve the situation,” Calviño pointed out.
In this sense, asked if the Executive will take more measures to curb the increase in the price of the shopping basket, the acting first vice president has indicated that the Government will continue working “in the same line: to contain prices and help the family income so that the Spanish economy does not suffer and, above all, so that citizens can best weather such a turbulent international situation” as the current one.
As for the rise in prices in the tourism sector for these holidays, especially for hotel accommodation, Calviño has stated that there are several circumstances that have come together and that explain this situation.
Thus, he has indicated that, after the end of the pandemic and having been one of the sectors that suffered the most, it is ensuring that the sector is trying to recover the profit margins it had before Covid. “In fact, it has already recovered and therefore we are already returning to normality after this extraordinary period,” he specified.
Other factors that have influenced the increase in the cost of the sector have been the increase in costs derived from the rise in energy, as well as the recovery of wages, “which is very positive for the Spanish economy but also has an impact on costs of sectors that use a large volume of labor in general”.
In any case, Calviño has indicated that the prices of tourist services have risen in all countries and that Spain “continues to maintain price levels that contrast favorably with its neighboring countries.”
In addition, he stressed that Spain continues to improve family income, as it is the OECD country in which this indicator has grown the most, 5.4% in the last year, while pointing out that, if wages continue to improve, families will be able to cope “in the best possible way” with this situation of high prices.
As the vice-president has highlighted, the tourism sector is having a “very positive” summer, culminating a “frankly strong and very important” season for the Spanish economy, which “continues to go at a good pace”.
“Job creation, with the data we have for the month of July and so far in August, continues to be positive and Spain has a strong, resilient economy, which is showing remarkable strength in a turbulent international context,” he remarked.
Lastly, and with a view to winter, Calviño stressed that Spain “is very well endowed” from the point of view of gas reserves and energy supply. In addition, he added that the penetration of renewable energies is increasing “very significantly”. “All of this gives us enormous peace of mind to face whatever lies ahead in the energy field”, he concluded.
