"Economic recovery will take place in line with vaccination", say Pedro Sánchez

During his speech, Pedro Sánchez confirmed that the vaccination rate will be speeded up in Spain and that this week the milestone will be reached in our country whereby more people will have received the full dose of the vaccine than the number of people that have notified as catching the disease. 'The economic recovery will take place in line with vaccination. The quicker we vaccinate, the quicker we will recover. And we are already achieving that', explained the President of the Government. Pedro Sánchez considers that the best fiscal policy is the Vaccination Plan and trusts that in 2021 Spain will be the Western country to enjoy the highest growth, together with the United States.

The Recovery Plan, before the Lower House of Parliament on Wednesday

Foto: Pool Moncloa/Borja Puig de la BellacasaThe Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Planwill be submitted to the European Commission during April, which is running the management of the fund under the extraordinary EU mechanism Next Generation EU, and which amounts to the reception of 140 billion euros in transfers and loans to Spain in the period 2021-2026. Before being definitively sent to Brussels, the Inter-ministerial Committee for the Recovery Plan will meet on Tuesday to analyse the document following the Council of Ministers. On Wednesday, the President of the Government will appear, at his own request, before the Lower House, to specify the main lines of the Plan in detail.

The Recovery Plan establishes four pillars of the transformation: the ecological transition, the digital transition, social and territorial cohesion and gender equality. The Plan also contains a total of 212 measures, of which 110 are investments and 102 are reforms. The aim of the investments is to have an immediate impact on growth and job creation in 2021, and to attract private investment in strategic areas.

The investments to be undertaken under the Plan include the auction of 6,000 MW of renewable energies, a budget of 1.5 billion euros for hydrogen projects, the digitalisation of 1.3 million SMEs and of 140,000 classrooms. Furthermore, 150,000 rapid charging points will be installed, the acquisition of electric vehicles will be backed to achieve a car pool of 250,000 electric vehicles by 2023, more than 500,000 homes will be refurbished, more than 65,000 pre-school education places will be created for children up to 3 year olds and broadband and 5G will be extended to every corner of Spain.

In turn, the reforms will allow crucial challenges to be addressed in the Spanish economy - the fight against climate change, the transformation of our energy model, the modernisation of the administration, the bolstering of the research and science system, the transformation of our dependency system and the modernisation of our employment law regime. 'We want to be a dynamic, resilient and inclusive market that addresses both the dilemmas of digitalisation and the structural problems we have been suffering from for decades', explained Pedro Sánchez.

The effect of the investments and improvements on economic growth is estimated at around two percentage points a year as from 2021 and the creation of 800,000 jobs during the time it is implemented.

Jobs are a priority

Foto: Pool Moncloa/Borja Puig de la BellacasaThe Recovery Plan seeks to rebuild the economy in the short term and transform it to make it more competitive. But the Plan also seeks to offset the impact that COVID-19 has had on two of the groups hardest hit by the previous crisis - the financial crisis - women and young people. To this end, Pedro Sánchez highlighted that this Plan will prioritise the closing of the gender gap, increase personal and professional opportunities for young people and reduce wage inequalities to cut the distance that separates us from the European average by two thirds. For this reason, the measures on education and training are key elements of the Plan, with a budget of 9.3 billion euros, with the aim of increasing productivity and salaries, and of reducing unemployment.

The President of the Government stressed that at an economic level, jobs are the priority for everyone: for business owners, entrepreneurs, citizens and the government. 'Jobs are the guarantee of prosperity', added Pedro Sánchez.

Non official translation