Spanish prime minister speaks on economic crisis

Monday, October 20, 2008 

In an interview with Público, a Spanish newspaper, the prime minister of Spain, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, has stated that " if there is a global recession, it seems logical to expect that Spain will enter the recession in 2009 ."

José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero
Image: Guillaume Paumier.

In the interview Zapatero also described the worldwide economic situation as "difficult." He recognized that " the developed countries are or are going to experience negative growth, and developing countries are also going to see falling growth; resulting in a worldwide loss of jobs."

	We have a year-long financial crisis, which has had its most acute moment in the past two months, and I think now the financial markets are beginning to recover
—Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero

Regarding the global financial situation, Zapatero continued by saying that "the financial system is a part of the economy, a crucial part. We have a year-long financial crisis, which has had its most acute moment in the past two months, and I think now the financial markets are beginning to recover."

Asked about whether it would be desirable to another plan to help those overwhelmed by the size of their mortgage, Zapatero reiterated the falls in the Euro Interbank Offered Rate .

Zapatero then claimed that the average Spanish citizen would see their mortgage decrease by €28 a month (€330 per year) as result of the recent drops in interest rate, lead by seven central banks, including the European Central Bank which covers Spain, dropped their interest rate by 0.5%.

The prime minister then said that he was pleased with the role of Spain in the recent summits discussing the financial crisis, before adding that he believes the European Union will lead the way in solving the current issues in the markets.

Sources

This is a complete or partial translation of the article "España podría entrar en recesión en 2009" from the español language Wikinews, which included content from another website, which uses a license compatible with Wikinews. See the version in the original language for more information about this source.

• Ignacio Escolar, Amparo Estrada, Marco Swartz. "Zapatero: "La recuperación costará tiempo y esfuerzo"" — Público (Spain), october 19, 2008 (Spanish)
• "Zapatero: "Si hay una recesión global, estaremos en recesión al año que viene"" — 20 Minutos, october 19, 2008 (Spanish)
• Press Release: "Joint Statement by Central Banks" — Federal Reserve, October 8, 2008