De Guindos Sees Two Tough Quarters Ahead for Spain’s Economy
Spain’s Economy and Competition Minister Luis de Guindos said the euro area’s fourth-largest economy has suffered a “relapse” and will contract as the People’s Party takes over the nation’s finances from the Socialists.
“The Spanish economy has had a relapse and we are returning to a negative growth rate,” de Guindos said in Madrid today. “The next two quarters aren’t going to be easy.”
Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who named his government last week after his People’s Party’s landslide victory on Nov. 20, has pledged to tackle the budget deficit, the euro area’s third- largest, after growth stalled in the third quarter. De Guindos is in charge of overhauling the financial sector to restore the flow of credit to the economy and of battling a 23 percent jobless rate. Cristobal Montoro has been named budget minister with the task of reordering public finances.
Rajoy said on Dec. 19 that his government’s growth forecast for Spain next year will be “in line” with the European Commission’s estimate.
To contact the reporter on this story: Angeline Benoit in Madrid at abenoit4@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Craig Stirling at cstirling1@bloomberg.net
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