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A record 2,272 Spanish individuals and firms declared bankruptcy in the second quarter, up 28.6 percent from the same period in 2011, the National Statistics Institute, or INE, said Monday.
Failing businesses accounted for all of the increase, as personal bankruptcies fell by 12 percent.
Spain had 6,755 bankruptcies in 2011, the highest annual total since the INE began keeping records, and an increase of 13.3 percent over the previous year.
Nearly 31 percent of all the firms that declared bankruptcy in the second quarter were in construction, which continues to shrink as Spain struggles with a double-dip recession and the bursting of a decade-long housing bubble.
Small and medium-sized companies, defined as those with annual turnover of less than 2 million euros ($2.48 million), represented 70 percent of the business bankruptcies in the April-June period.
Spain’s ICC consumer confidence index dipped in July to its lowest level since the monthly survey was launched, the official Center for Sociological Research said last Friday.
The ICC, which is based on a scale of 0 to 200, came in last month at 37.6 points, down 13 points from June and 36 points from July 2011.
Any reading below 100 points is considered negative.
More than 60 percent of those surveyed said their families’ finances had deteriorated over the previous six months, and 48.4 percent expect things to get worse in the next six months.
Two-thirds said they struggle to make it to the of the month without running out of money.
Almost 89 percent of respondents characterized Spain’s present economic situation as bad and 71.5 percent foresee a further decline.
A majority said they expect both inflation and interest rates to rise in 2013.
Spain’s jobless rate stands at 24.6 percent overall and more than 53 percent among people under 25.
Published in Notitas de Noticias
2012-08-06 23:38:36