Spain

SPAIN - In a speech last week the labour minister, Jesús Caldera, stated the payment of pensions was guaranteed until at least 2036 due to continued surpluses in the social security system.

SPAIN - The social security system would be unsustainable without the contributions made by immigrants, said Spanish labour minister Jesus Caldera.

SPAIN - In the 2007 Spanish budget proposals, unveiled recently by economy minister Pedro Solbes, pensions are to increase to €91.5bn.

SPAIN - The US$204bn California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) has formed a new venture with real estate firm Hines to access the Spanish residential market.

SPAIN - Continued delays to pension reform would raise the scale of the measures eventually needed to ensure long-run fiscal sustainability, the International Monetary Fund has warned.

SPAIN - Pension reform is needed to ensure long-term fiscal sustainability and there is no room for complacency, an International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff mission to Spain has reported.

SPAIN - Spanish financial group BBVA has announced plans to increase managed assets in its South-American pension and insurance unit by 55% to US$70bn by 2008.

SPAIN - Financial services firm Abante Assesores has launched a new independent subsidiary, Abante Alternative Investments (AIA), to provide asset management services to Spanish institutional investors.

SPAIN - The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has called on Spain to revise the parameters underlying pension calculations to make the system "actuarially fair".

SPAIN - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has urged Spanish authorities to assign higher priority to comprehensive pension reform, noting slow progress under the Pacto de Toledo process.