Spanish Growth Forecast Increased by 2.7%

Spanish Growth Forecast Increased by 2.7%

While the Spanish economic outlook has been looking good for a while the Economic Minister of Spain Luis de Guindos announced that the growth forecast for the rest of 2016 would be increased by another 2.7%.

Marbella in the Costa del Sol enjoying welcomed growth

The Minister says that Spain could very well pass the 3.2 increase in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) seen in 2015 as long as the political impasse in Spain – Spain has held two general elections in six months with no clear winner – comes to a close.

De Guindos said that he believes the current growth projections are very prudent and that he will revise the growth for 2016 in the next set of forecasts to be issued before the end of July.

The Minister was keen to stress that Spain is becoming an even better place to do business day by day, citing how the country has internationally recognised business schools, low prices on real estate, great weather, cost of living being so low and a solid infrastructure. All of which he believes make the country so appealing to investors.

The Minister believes that creating a stable government which would then form a strong economic policy could see the country outdo the growth they saw last year. The Popular Party emerged as the party with the most votes in the last election but, once again, they failed to secure a majority. The far-left party Podemos also lost votes in the election which suggests people are voting for stability; something Incumbent Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy was keen to hit home.

While he has presided over a number of tough austerity measures it’s impossible to claim the country hasn’t ultimately had an economic upturn. Unemployment is down consistently and many industries such as hospitality and service have seen a rise in growth over the past few months.

Even the banking industry in Spain, which was reliant on an EU bailout following the last recession, has managed to head in the right direction. De Guindos believes that the banks can continue to act responsibly and help the country continue to grow. He said that the banks were cleaned up in 2012 after the bailout so the country doesn’t need to worry about the banks anymore.
All in all the out look for spain and residents is looking good.