MADRID: Spain’s central bank on Wednesday raised its 2015 economic growth forecast for the country to 3.1 percent, strengthening the outlook for recovery in the eurozone’s fourth biggest economy.
The Bank of Spain raised its forecast from an earlier estimate of 2.8 percent published in late March, its governor Luis Linde told parliament. Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy is vaunting Spain’s economic recovery as he prepares to fight a year-end general election, after passing austerity reforms and weathering numerous corruption scandals.
His government’s official growth forecast currently stands at 2.9 percent for this year and it expects the expansion to continue at a comparable rate in 2016. Spain officially exited recession in late 2013 and the economy grew by 1.4 percent last year as consumer spending and investment improved.
