PRIME Minister Pedro Sanchez has announced the setting-up of a state-owned sovereign wealth fund to boost sectors including housing and national security.
Sanchez said the fund will be called ‘Spain Grows’ and aims to extend the economic stimulus of the European Union’s Next Generation fund, which helped the country recover from the Covid pandemic.
That contribution is set to end from next year.
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‘Spain Grows’ will initially draw €10.5 billion from EU funds and aims to raise €120 billion through private debt, Sanchez said, adding more details would be unveiled next week.
It will prioritise investments in housing, renewable energy, digitalisation, AI, reindustralisation, infrastructure, water, health, the circular economy and security, according to Sanchez.
“This fund will not only be an exercise in national sovereignty but also proof that there is another way of doing things amid a narrative that questions diversity, equality or the commitment to sustainability,” Sanchez said.
He added that the investments would not only benefit large urban centres but also those places which industrialisation had bypassed.
Spain has been one of the main recipients of EU pandemic recovery funds and was allocated about €160 billion – roughly half in grants and half in loans.
The country has put out tenders for €86.6 billion, assigned €79.8 billion and paid out €62.9 billion, according to government figures last month.
It renounced around €66 billion in loans in December, a decision it attributed to its strong standing on capital markets enabling it to raise funds independently.
However, European Commission official Daniel Calleja said at an event in Madrid the move was also due to its failure to implement some of the necessary reforms.
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