The Vice President of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation,

Nadia Calviño

, assured this Monday that only 15% of the Spanish debt portfolio is exposed to the rise in interest rates by having to refinance in 2022, reports Europa Press.

"Fortunately, we have taken advantage of a scenario of negative rates to prepare for the necessary normalization of monetary policy," said Calviño, during his speech by videoconference at the opening of the Summer Course of the Association of Economic Information Journalists (APIE)' from the Menéndez Pelayo International University (UIMP), in Santander.

The vice-president highlighted that at the moment the average rate of outstanding debt in circulation is

below 1.6%

, the Treasury has achieved "a historic lengthening" of the average life of the debt to eight years and "it has almost 60% of the financing program planned for this year has been completed".

The first vice president considers the rise in interest rates "

necessary

" and has assessed the reaction of the European Central Bank (ECB) as "very positive" to "stop speculation and avoid any fragmentation of the markets".

"

The markets have reacted favorably

to the ECB's action, and it is logical because the volatility of last week clearly does not respond to the fundamentals of the countries," he asserted.

Calviño has defended that the Spanish economy is in "a solid position" and that "thanks to the response (of the Government) to the war and the pandemic, it is strong and prepared to face the future", with growth forecasts for this year of between 4% and 4.8% by national and international organizations.

In this sense, the economic vice-president has highlighted the "record data in the labor market", with more than 20.4 million people affiliated and "almost one out of every two contracts" signed of an indefinite nature, an improvement in the figures for deficit and debt forecast for this year and a recovery of public investment of 9% "compared to the intense fall" of this indicator in the last crisis.

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