"The reforms undertaken underpin investment opportunities in Spain", says Miguel Ferre

"The reforms undertaken underpin investment opportunities in Spain", he stressed, at a meeting held in the British capital with more than 100 representatives of 59 investment banks, funds and firms, organised by KPMG and IE Business School.

At this event, Miguel Ferre stressed the budgetary framework and the Stability Programme (2015-2018) which Spain is committed to with the European Union. Along these lines, the State Secretary for the Treasury underlined that the General State Budget for 2016 forecasts that Spain will leave the excessive deficit procedure this year, with its public deficit falling below 3% of GDP.

Under the heading of revenue, he highlighted that the policy of reducing taxation, initiated in 2015, will continue this year, and that this is fully compatible with the target of reducing the public deficit committed to with the EU. To this end, the second phase of the reform of Corporate Income Tax has been set in motion, which includes measures to boost savings and financial de-leveraging, particularly designed for SMEs to increase their capitalisation.

In turn, this year will be the first year with full tax reductions in force in terms of Personal Income Tax, reductions that are leading to a significant injection of additional income available to taxpayers, particularly those on low to medium salaries.

Fiscal and financial restructuring with more jobs

Under the heading of spending, this will continue to be tightly controlled, with a greater emphasis on investment than in previous years. "The reforms undertaken, the clean-up of the public accounts, the restructuring of the business sector and the new fiscal framework are converting Spain into a country of new opportunities", he stated.

These assertions are backed by the latest figures on the progress of the Spanish economy which "certify that our economic policy has returned market confidence" in the Spanish economy. Among these figures, Miguel Ferre highlighted the creation of 525,000 new jobs in 2015, way above the EU average, and the sharp fall in unemployment.

In turn, the IMF has just increased its forecast for growth in Spain for 2016. GDP has posted an increase of 3.2% in 2015, also way above the EU average, to make it the best year since the start of the crisis.

Taxation framework for real estate market

The State Secretary for the Treasury stressed other measures approved that are interesting for foreign investors, particularly from the UK. These include the new tax regime for the Spanish SOCIMI, similar to the British Real Estate Investment Trust, which take on particular importance at a time such as the present, with a certain recovery in the real estate sector in Spain. The SOCIMI offer a very attractive legal-fiscal framework, being exempt from taxation and entitled to be listed on the secondary stock market (Spanish acronym: MAB).