Spain, where unemployment, at 26.7pc, is second only to that of Greece, yesterday (Wed) increased its 2014 borrowing target to €242bn. But unlike Italy, signs are mounting that the country is headed for a full-blown recovery. Investors took Madrid’s raised ambition in their stride, pushing Spanish borrowing costs to a four-year low.
“Spain possibly exemplifies best how the improving macroeconomic outlook is making the country more attractive to domestic and, more importantly, international investors,” said Antonio Garcia Pascual, economist at Barclays.
Italy, one of the only eurozone countries where unemployment rose in November, is largely to blame for the bloc’s failure to shake off record high joblessness despite emerging from recession in the third quarter of last year.
Separate figures released yesterday [Wed] showed that unemployment across the single currency bloc remained unchanged for the eighth month running at 12.1pc in November. Youth unemployment, across the bloc was 24.2pc, for the second consecutive month.
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The Business for Britain campaigners will lobby the Government on Tuesday to demand that the 95pc of firms that don’t sell to the single market should be exempt from EU regulations.
Mr Cruddas, the founder of the financial derivatives dealer CMC Markets, who was announced as a board member of Business for Britain at the weekend, says the campaign is “of critical importance to the future direction of Britain”.
He believes the “reams” of regulation imposed by Brussels – such as the proposed Financial Transaction Tax, also known as the Tobin tax – threaten to “seriously hurt” the financial services industry.
Mr Cruddas said: “Some estimates put the cost of EU regulation to business at upwards of £7bn a year. This situation is harming companies in the UK … and is simply untenable.”
The Europe renegotiation proposals have been drawn up after consultation with hundreds of business people, and are designed to give UK companies a chance to flourish while remaining in the EU.
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