Spanish economy to shrink 1.5% in 2012
2012-01-23 12:50:29
The Spanish is economy may contract 1.5 percent this year, before recovering to post a meager 0.2 percent growth in 2013, the latest estimates from the Bank of Spain revealed Monday. The central bank said that the economy likely expanded 0.7 percent in 2011. However, the gross domestic product probably contracted 0.3 percent quarter-on-quarter in the fourth quarter.
On the expenditure side, domestic demand would have fallen at a rate slightly higher than the July-September period, while the positive contribution of external demand diminished somewhat compared to the previous quarter.
Bank of Spain projects the economy to post a budget deficit of 4.4 percent of GDP this year, narrowing from 8.1 percent of GDP in 2011. In 2013, the shortfall is expected to fall further to 3 percent of GDP. The National Statistics Institute, or INE, is slated to release the preliminary official GDP figures for the fourth quarter on January 30.