Spain suffers huge outflows of foreign investment

The lack of confidence in the Spanish economy is evident from the massive outflows of foreign investment, which had been negative in net terms for eight months in a row up to February, the last period for which figures are available.

According to data released Monday by the Bank of Spain, a net 128.655 billion euros has been pulled from Spain by financial investors since July of last year. In February alone the figure was 25.548 billion euros.

“In the financial markets, there is no doubt that Spain is the price you have to look for every morning,” an employee of the European fund manager Pimco said last week in a visit to Spain. For Pimco, the loss of competitiveness of the Spanish economy, growing public debt, and the weakness of the banking system constitute a cocktail that is hard to swallow.

In February, the exit of investment funds held by foreign investors was 13.460 billion euros, mainly in loans and deposits. At the same time Spanish investors sent 11.349 billion euros overseas. Outflows of funds invested by foreigners in bonds and shares was 3.883 billion euros, while Spanish investors bought 2.177 billion of these instruments overseas.

Investments by foreigners in Spanish government bonds dropped almost 22 percent to 219.601 billion euros. At the end of March 37.5 percent of state debt was held by foreigners, down from 50.5 percent at the end of December.