##cies. see aguilar garcia, e., alloza frutos, m., mata, t. d. l., moral benito, e., portillo - pampin i., and d. sarasa - flores ( 2023 ). una primera caracterizacion de las empresas receptoras de fondos ngeu en espana. documentos ocasiones, 2321, banco de espana. see giovanni, j. d., garcia - santana, m., jeenas, p., moral benito, e. and j. pijoan mas ( 2022 ). buy big or buy small? procurement policies, firms'financing and the macroeconomy. documentos de trabajo, 2233, banco de espana. see fernandez - cerezo, a., moral - benito, e. and j. quintana ( 2024 ). “ on the macroeconomic impact of ngeu funds and its propagation through the production network ”. economic modelling, vol. 132. third, the transformative impact of the rrf funds ultimately hinges on selecting projects that can increase spain ’ s productive capacity. these projects should have a strong innovation component and a high degree of complementarity with private investment. 7 summing up, designing and implementing the ngeu programme is a significant challenge for the public sector. both short - term growth and the medium and longterm growth potential of the spanish economy will largely depend on the ability to effectively and efficiently manage the large volume of ngeu funds coming into spain. critical to achieving this is the rigorous selection of projects, along with a realtime assessment process in place to allow possible shortcomings to be identified and remedied as they arise, in both procedural issues and funded projects. the enormous complexity underlying the management of these funds demands a great deal of transparency so that the process ultimately strengthens people ’ s trust in their institutions. see dominguez - diaz, r., hurtado, s. and c. menendez ( 2024 ). the medium - term effects of investment stimulus. documentos de trabajo, 2402, banco de espana

( relating to the correction of some of the supply side shocks that acted as a drag on activity in 2021 and 2022 ) peter out. in terms of recent price developments, headline inflation ( hicp ) stood at 3. 3 % in march, as compared with 2. 9 % in february and 3. 5 % in january. the uptick in march can largely be attributed to the rise in the price of energy and, to a lesser extent, services. indeed, following 15 consecutive months of year - on - year falls, energy prices returned to positive growth rates, driven by electricity prices, which rose 6. 9 % year - on - year as the vat on electricity returned to its standard 21 % rate in march. 2 elsewhere, food prices continued to decelerate, growing by 4. 3 % in march, almost one percentage point less than in february. meanwhile, underlying inflation fell by 0. 2 pp year - on - year in march to stand at 3. 1 %, thanks to the slowdown in the price of non - energy industrial goods ( with the year - on - year growth rate falling by 0. 7 pp to 0. 8 % ). this decline has been partially offset by the slight rise in services prices, which have hovered at around 4 % for several consecutive months, partially owing to the performance of tourism - related services. see gonzalez simon, m., jimenez garcia, b. and c. martinez carrascal ( 2024 ). “ un analisis desagregado de la inversion empresarial desde el inicio de la pandemia ”, articulos analiticos, boletin economico, banco de espana, forthcoming. in accordance with royal decree - law 8 / 2023 of 27 december 2023, vat on electricity will be charged at 10 % whenever the arithmetic average price on the day - ahead market in the preceding calendar month exceeds €45 / mwh, and at 21 % when the price is lower. this average price stood at €40 / mwh in february, and the vat rate therefore returned to 21 % in march. looking ahead, the banco de espana ’ s latest projections exercise envisages inflation resuming a downward path in the coming months, owing to a gradual moderation in food and underlying inflation, which will more than offset the expected increase in the contribution of the energy component. considering all these developments, headline inflation will gradually ease from an