Per capita income is now 17 points below the state average and the drop in foreign investment confirms the failure of the REF
SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, June 8. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The president of CEOE-Tenerife, Pedro Alfonso, said this Wednesday that the second half of the year is “complicated” by “external factors” such as the duration of the war in Ukraine and “high inflation” that implies lower consumption of families and a break in investments while the Canarian Government does not lower its forecasts and maintains that there will be at least a growth of 6.5% of GDP, above the national average.
In statements to journalists before presenting the book ‘2021: The economy of the Canary Islands in graphics’, he has appealed to “be cautious” hence they do not maintain their forecasts for this year even if there is some “good” data such as the recovery of the activity of shipping companies in the Far East.
Afonso has not hidden that investment is “out of control” and there is “little solution” on the horizon for the supply of products and raw materials, so he understands that there is going to be a “complicated situation” for growth, which in any case , will be superior to that of the State.
Likewise, he has called on governments to make a “great effort” to reduce bureaucracy, the shadow economy and absenteeism, but this “is not on the roadmap.”
The president of the Tenerife businessmen has assumed the rise in interest rates in Europe, although it will be “progressive”, but with the problem that the payment of the debt will be “increasingly expensive” and each percentage point “is 14,000 millions of expenses” that have to lower or raise taxes.
On this fifth report -soon it will be presented insularized by islands of the western province- he has described as “disappointing” that the per capita income in the archipelago continues to fall and is already 17 points below the national average, something that he blamed on the “great impact” of the pandemic, with a drop in activity of 20%.
Alfonso has commented that the problem of the divergence of income is already “structural” and understands that it is necessary to give a “boost” to tourism, which has gone through bad years that forced lower prices, but also “diversify” the economy with other sectors that allow to increase the remuneration of the workers and the margins of the companies.
He has also warned of the drop in international investment in the Canary Islands to 0.3% when the archipelago represents 3.7% of national GDP and should at least be average.
In his opinion, these data reflect that “the attractions of the REF have not worked” so he maintains that it is necessary to “renew the promotional items” for the ZEC and the REF because “the reality is not so advantageous” of these two tools.
The Deputy Minister of Economy of the Government of the Canary Islands, Blas Acosta, has been more optimistic and maintains that the islands are going to grow by at least 6.5%, in such a way that the forecasts made in the first trimester.
He has admitted that the economic patterns “are not regular” but there are others, such as tourism, that drive wealth in the Canary Islands “up”, stressing that with a growth of 6.5% -BBVA, for example, takes it to 8 .5%– almost 3,000 million more will be achieved.
ACOSTA TRUSTS IN THE PULL OF TOURISM
Acosta has indicated that the distance implies that imports “have become very expensive” and inflation “is doing a lot of damage” so he hopes that some measures will be implemented as soon as possible, such as capping the price of gas to lower the cost of electricity or where you can control the price of fuel. “It’s going to be complicated but you have to fight it,” she said.
The deputy minister has been convinced of the strength of tourism to drive the recovery in the Canary Islands, since 90% of air seats have already been recovered in such a way that he also trusts that the Canary Islands can be exempt from the ‘green tax’ so as not to lose competitiveness.
However, he specified that the Canary Islands “must not be a subsidized region but must produce”, and although “it is good” that they help the archipelago for being RUP, it must also diversify its economy and generate more value. “We cannot be a third territory,” she explained.
The territorial director of CaixaBank in the Canary Islands, Juan Ramón Fuertes, pointed out at the presentation ceremony the importance of this publication, which is now in its fifth edition, as a result of the close link between the financial institution and CEOE Tenerife.
“Despite the headwinds we are experiencing, there are
also mitigating elements to preserve the growth of our economy, such as the savings accumulated during the pandemic, the deployment of European funds and the behavior that we expect for tourism in the islands”, he indicated.
Fuertes also emphasized the process of adapting to the trends of strong transformation that society has been facing in recent years, “which generate disruptive changes and require that as entrepreneurs and managers we have to rethink our business models”.
An environment of uncertainty, he said, “that tests the adaptability of organizations and in which those who advance will not be the largest companies, but those capable of anticipating their future challenges and needs to adapt to changes and get on the train of economic transformation.
