The governor of the Bank of Spain, José Luis Escrivá, has predicted this Thursday that the Spanish economy will maintain a stable expansion rate, at least this year and next, with growth above 2%, supported by the fact that domestic consumption continues to be "robust" and by the high savings rate of households. However, he has warned that the construction sector "has to grow more".
During a colloquium held in Tenerife on the occasion of the presentation of the entity's annual report, Escrivá stressed that domestic demand "has room to grow", that investment continues to rise and that "there are no financing problems", with interest rates around 2%.
He pointed out that economies "are holding up well" despite the "disruption" caused by the war in Iran and highlighted Spain's particularly favorable performance, where household spending remains closely linked to "leisure" and the country is consolidating itself as a destination for "digital nomads". "It's the post-covid world, the wind is at our backs," he noted.
In relation to construction, he recalled that the sector was "hit hard" after the 2008 financial crisis, which significantly reduced its weight, and is now facing difficulties such as a shortage of labor and limited profitability. Therefore, it "cannot keep up" with the rebound in demand, in a context of a deficit of 150,000 homes and with prices rising "at a very high rate" and above citizens' income.
BETTING ON INDUSTRIALIZED CONSTRUCTION
Escrivá has set "priority" on promoting industrialized construction, which "has to go faster", although he admitted that "the shortcomings are very great", with fewer workers than in 1999 despite employment growing at rates above 3%.
He also criticized the shortage of public housing stock, with one house for every 65 inhabitants, compared to countries like the Netherlands, where there is one for every three. In this regard, he called for better "harmony" between public administrations, considering that the central government, the autonomous communities, and the municipalities "are not agile in generating supply", both in the promotion of new housing, in making land available, and in the processing of urban planning licenses.
He also acknowledged that in Spain "it is difficult to delineate jurisdictional levels" for being the most decentralized country in the EU, and has urged to take Denmark and Sweden as a reference, which he has defined as the "most efficient" in the use of public spending, with "more institutional quality" and a way of regulating the economy "much superior".
Regarding the 'Next Generation' funds, he admitted that "they are running out" and that those that will arrive later "are smaller". Therefore, he considers that now is the time to evaluate whether they have been distributed "correctly" and what "effects" they have had, with the aim of favoring the attraction of private investment in the coming years.