Spanish companies say political uncertainty their main fear for 2018

MADRID, March 5 (Xinhua) -- Spanish companies cite the ongoing political uncertainty in Spain as their main worry for the year, according to an annual report published by the consultancy KPMG and the Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations (CEOE) on Monday.

The Catalan crisis and the fact that the government has still not found the support to pass the budget for 2018 are reasons for the current unease.

A total of 82 percent of Spanish business people said the political uncertainty, followed by geopolitical tension and the end of the expansionist monetary policies of the Bank of Spain (BCE) were big worries, according to the Perspectivas Espanoles (Spanish Perspectives) report.

A total of 57 percent of those questioned admitted to having delayed investments as a result of the political uncertainty and 46 percent said it had damaged the country's image abroad.

However, the business class is broadly optimistic for 2018 and this optimism is another of the key indicators in the report with six out of 10 business people saying they considered the current economic situation to be "good" or "excellent," an increase of 23 percent on the same report in 2017.

Seventy-seven percent are confident they will see sales improve in 2018, while 45 percent believe they will win new contracts, a possibility which will improve if the situation in Spanish society is finally resolved.

Looking at the different sectors of the economy, the automobile industry has the biggest hopes for growth, followed by the construction and banking sectors, with 80 percent of vehicle manufacturers predicting more sales and jobs.

In the construction sector, 79 percent of those questioned believe that the situation is "good" or "excellent", an indicator which contrasts with the pessimism displayed in the recent past, when the effects of the economic crisis were still being felt.

The optimistic KPMG report contrasts sharply with the words of Bank of Spain governor Luis Maria Linde, who indicated on Monday there were "serious problems" with the Spanish pension system.

According to Spanish media, Linde said imbalances in the pension system would "only be resolved with more employment."

Linde's declarations came in a context of ongoing protests by pensioners in the face of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's announcement of a rise of just 0.25 percent in the state pension, which in some cases is translated into a meagre increase of just one euro a month in real terms.

Spanish pensioners have been taking to the streets in large numbers to protest the situation, which, according to the Independent Authority for Spanish Fiscal Responsibility (AIReF), will produce a loss of seven percent in the spending power of retired people between now and 2022. Enditem