In the first annual report presented by
the central bank since Linde took office last year,
the supervisor also proposed an acceleration of
reforms to the state pension system phasing in an
increase and the retirement age and changes to the
basis on how pensions are calculated. These reforms
should be brought forward to ensure the
sustainability of the system, the Bank of Spain
says.The governor of the Bank of Spain, Luis
María Linde, on Friday called for even more
flexibility in the labor market than afforded by the
reforms approved in February of last year to tackle
rampant unemployment, suggesting that new formulas
could be found beyond the reach of collective
bargaining agreements and, in some circumstances,
leaving the statutory minimum wage in abeyance.
“The seriousness of the labor market advises
maintaining and intensifying reform momentum through
the adoption of additional measures to promote job
creation in the short term and facilitate wage
flexibility,” the report said. “Here it would be worth
exploring the possibility of establishing new formulas
that would allow, in special cases, temporary
departures from the conditions laid down in collective
bargaining agreements, or exceptional mechanisms to
prevent the minimum wage from acting as a constraint
on specific groups of workers with most difficulties
in terms of employability.”
The minimum wage in Spain is currently 645
euros a month. Spain’s jobless rate hit a record 27.2
percent in the first quarter, with 6.2 million people
out of work, an increase of almost one million since
the ruling Popular Party’s labor reform was
introduced. The youth unemployment rate also reached a
record 57.2 percent.
According to figures released Friday by the
European Union’s statistics office, Eurostat, Spain
accounted for 31.5 percent of the 19.375 million
people out of work in the euro zone in April.
Unemployment stood at record highs of 12.2 percent in
the single-currency block and at 11.0 percent in the
EU. The rate in Spain was 26.8 percent, with
joblessness in Portugal 17.8 percent.