EU Sees Biggest Spain Growth Since 2007 as Budget Gap Grows

The European Union forecast that Spain will post its fastest economic growth in eight years in 2015 as Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy allows his budget shortfall to rise in the run up to a general election.

Spanish gross domestic product will grow 2.1 percent next year and the budget deficit will widen to 6.1 percent of GDP unless Rajoy changes his current policy settings, the EU said today in its spring economic forecast. The EU’s outlook for the economy next year, raised from a previous estimate of 1.7 percent, exceeds the Spanish government’s prediction for a 1.8 percent expansion. Rajoy’s government also said it will meet its 4.2 percent deficit target in 2015.