Las Palmas De Gran Canaria (EFE).- The Cajasiete cooperative, which is part of the Caja Rural Group, sees room to lower the IGIC in the Canary Islands without compromising the financing of the autonomous community and also for the economy of the archipelago to grow more of what it does.
This is how its general director, Manuel del Castillo, considered it this Monday at a breakfast where he presented the results of the entity in 2022, a year that closed with profits after taxes of 23.3 million euros – 7.6 million more than in 2021 – after registering 2,000 million in loans to its customers (3.2% more) and 3,006 million in deposits (2.9% more).
Del Castillo highlighted that Cajasiete’s 240,000 clients, of which 57,000 are members, have helped the entity to consolidate a business model based on cooperatives whose size, around 4,000 million euros, places this company with 62 years of history and 404 employees, among the top twenty in the Canary Islands.
When analyzing the economic situation, the person in charge of Cajasiete has admitted that since the financial crisis of 2008, expectations have been more pessimistic than reality has been, so that many of the dark clouds that were seen in the form of risk have later materializing to a much lesser extent than expected.
Now, in the post-covid era, the effects of which are still lingering in many small businesses that are seeing some loans expire, the challenge is represented by inflation and the sudden rise in interest rates, which has reduced the availability of money in families and businesses, leaving less for savings and consumption.
In the opinion of the general director of Cajasiete, despite all these conditions, the Canarian economy, with a tourism sector that is once again “very good”, shows signs of adapting to the new situation in a better way than initially thought.
In this context, Del Castillo has been optimistic in stating that the Canary Islands can grow more than it does, although he has stressed that, for this to happen, adjustments must be made to the REF, related to the RIC, to provide this instrument of greater legal certainty, since “the interpretation of the norm is at the risk of the Inspection” of the Tax Agency.
He also misses Del Castillo that the new regulations that are generated in the Canary Islands do not give security to those who have to comply with it, which is why he demands simpler and clearer rules.
Other elements to improve, according to the person in charge of the entity, are the obstacles that are imposed on trade in a territory as fragmented as the archipelago; the still notable youth unemployment that is registered in the Canary Islands, in many cases due to the little or no training of this sector of the population; and a social factor to combat, that related to the scarce promotion of effort and excellence.
In short, the Canary Islands must move towards the recovery of the per capita income that has been lost in recent years, for which it is also essential, in his opinion, to improve basic infrastructure and make the population aware of the importance of consume local products.
Regarding fiscal policy, he considered that taxation in Spain is currently “high” and regarding the IGIC he stated that “we come from times that have shown that with a lower IGIC the autonomous community can perfectly finance its projects”, therefore who believes that now there is room to lower it, studying very carefully where, so that it has effects on families and the economy, so that it exerts a driving effect on new businesses. EFE