Major Spanish companies, collectively by means of the Consejo Empresarial para la Competividad (Business Council for Competitiveness), defended yesterday the viability of the Spanish economy and announced that a recovery will occur sooner than expected.
The biggest companies on the Ibex 35 estimate that we will hit bottom in 2012 and that the reforms already enacted have laid a strong foundation for the road to recovery. The companies are not making paper tigers here. In other words, they aren?t creating a reality that doesn?t exist.
César Alierta, representing the Council, called for taking a close look at reality. The request came at an odd time, becuase markets were falling, risk premiums were rising and European leaders are planning an extra summit to discuss growth and the possibility that Greece will abandon the euro.
Still, major Spanish companies want to emphasize that despite myriad pending problems, it is necessary to know what our starting point is and what fortifications we need to build.
For example: foreign business activity and the ability to respond to slack demand at home; tourism, which is keeping us afloat; internationalization, which improves business for many Spanish multinationals; and despite all the pending problems, the knowledge that we are a solvent country. There?s a lot of work left to do, but knowing our strengths and our weaknesses will help overcome a bad patch and further propel reforms once the recovery beings.
