Arturo Fernández, who participated in the program 'Primera Hora' on Gestiona Radio yesterday, emphatically affirmed that in Spain today, "there is not a lot of credit and prices are upwards of 8%. At these prices it is impossible to compete."
"If we cannot get financing, many more companies will face closures and unemployment will crumble," said Arturo Fernández, the president of the Madrid-based labor union CEIM and vice president of the CEOE. He warns that the mandate for European banks to increase core capital from 5% to 7-9% "is going to create more credit restrictions, and if the companies cannot get financing, investing and employment will halt."
The president of the CEIM spoke with conviction when analyzing the picture that will come into focus when the next government takes office after the November 20 elections. Fernández is betting that a Partido Popular government will win, "because that is what all the surveys indicate." In his opinion, the incoming government will have to take extreme measures.
"At this point we cannot even support a welfare state. We must change the plan and learn how not everyone gets a free lunch," the director said.
Less credit at a higher cost
The words of Arturo Fernández were uttered on the same day that the ICO and the Cámaras de Comercio published results of a survey addressing how Pymes (small and medium-sized businesses) will access foreign credit; the survey corresponded to the third quarter of 2011, a period during which 88.3% of these companies have reported problems getting financing from lenders.
