Spanish Economy Maintained Growth Momentum in Fourth Quarter
- Economy grew 0.7 percent in fourth quarter from third quarter
- Government yet to approve 2017 budget in fragmented parliament
This article is for subscribers only.
The Spanish economy maintained the pace of growth in the fourth quarter, as Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy seeks a cross-party agreement to approve this year’s budget.
Output grew 0.7 percent in the three months through December, the Madrid-based National Statistics Office said in a preliminary release Monday. That compares with 0.7 percent in the third quarter and the 0.7 percent median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists. Still the latest number is down from 0.8 percent growth in each of the first two quarters of 2016. From the year before, the economy expanded 3 percent in the fourth quarter, the statistics office added.