Brussels raises its growth forecast to 2.3% in Spain … – Reuters Spain

Brussels raises its growth forecast to 2.3% in Spain … – Reuters Spain

       

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Commission on Thursday raised its growth forecast for Spain to 2.3 percent in 2015 and 2.5 percent in 2016 after the economy grew last year by 1.4 percent, more than expected by Brussels in its latest macroeconomic outlook in November.

       

The new figures improve by 0.6 percentage points the data of Spanish GDP growth expected this year and 0.3 points the next.

       

The European Commission said that expectations in the euro area were better than three months ago thanks to cheaper oil, the weak euro and the program of quantitative easing (QE) bond buying by the European Central Bank.

       

In the area of ​​employment, Brussels expected that the Spanish unemployment rate to fall this year to 22.5 percent of the active population (24.3 percent planned for 2014) and falls to 20.7 percent in 2016. In terms of the Labour Force Survey, the unemployment rate in Spain ended last year at 23.70 percent.

       

Regarding the deficit, the Commission expects Spain fails to meet the objectives set for this triennium, although it is expected to reduce the budget gap to -5.6 percent in 2014 (vs 5.5% expected), al – 4.5 percent this year (vs 4.2%) and -3.7 percent in 2016 (vs 2.8% fixed).

        
       

FORECAST FOR THE EURO ZONE

       

For the entire euro zone, the executive arm of the EU raised its forecast for growth in gross domestic product (GDP) to 1.3 percent this year from 1.1 percent forecast in November, and to 1.9 percent in 2016 from 1.7 percent previously expected.

       

The growth last year was 0.8 percent, the Commission said. Continued …