Economics
Bank of Spain Sees Economy Shrinking by Up to 12.4% in 2020
- Central bank says GDP probably shrank 4.7% in first quarter
- Bank of Spain Sees 2020 Jobless Rate Between 18.2% to 21.7%
A pedestrian walks by closed outdoor retail huts in Madrid, on April 13.
Photographer: Paul Hanna/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Spain’s economy could contract this year by more than 12% in a worst-case-scenario forecast by the country’s central bank, the first official figures that spell out the potential toll of the coronavirus pandemic on the European Union’s fourth-largest economy.
The economic shock could push the unemployment rate to as high as 21.7% this year, undoing gains achieved in the aftermath of the 2008 global recession and the subsequent European debt crisis. At nearly 14%, Spain’s unemployment rate is already one of the highest in the developed world.