The director of employers’ association Álava is cautious when it comes to a possible recession. He explains that growth is “very moderate” and it should be taken into account that “as an exporting province, the destination countries are on the verge of recession”.
“It is true that to overcome the situation caused by the covid pandemic, the deployment of aid was essential to maintain the economic fabric, but now I miss government support to companies to alleviate this excessive increase in energy costs .” This has been stated by the general manager of SEA-Empresas Alavesas, Juan Ugarte, when analyzing the current situation companies are in. According to him, it is almost impossible for an electricity-intensive company to cope with this situation: “For example, the bill of a bakery has been multiplied by three or four, but that increase cannot be applied to the bread.”
interviewed on the show “Boulevard” from Radio Euskadi, the person in charge of SEA has also referred to the October CPI data released today, according to which the inter-annual CPI falls to 6.9% in the BAC. While he has acknowledged that “it is undoubtedly a positive number”, he has emphasized that “we are still on very high numbers”. “You have to take into account the starting point. In recent years, the price of electricity has doubled and that of gas by four times as much. , financial costs (…) Profitability is affected. Today we have work, but profitability is missing,” he qualified.
In that sense, he has been cautious when talking about a potential recession. He did not want to propagate pessimism, but he did make it clear that growth “is still very moderate and on the limit”. It should be taken into account, he added, that “as an exporting province, the destination countries are on the brink of recession”.
In this regard, Ugarte assured that companies “make a lot of effort to maintain employment”, but “if production is affected, it will be difficult to maintain that situation”. “We are at pre-covid-19 employment levels, but GDP levels have not yet reached pre-pandemic levels.”
Asked about the Basque government’s draft budget for 2023, the director of the Álava business association has appreciated the efforts of the institutions and called for a bold exercise, especially in tax matters. He believes that the CAV “has an instrument like the Economic Agreement that offers a lot of independence”, but “we should use that more vigorously”. “You have to take good words into practice (…) we advocate competitive taxation.”
Finally, he also spoke about the possible investment of 1,200 million euros that the multinational Mercedes Benz could make in Vitoria-Gasteiz. He is optimistic because “we have all the reeds to be awarded” and hopes the company will make the decision “as soon as possible”.
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Source: EITB
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
