Spain’s economy reboot firms and could reach pre-pandemic levels in 2021
MADRID, Sept 21 (Reuters) – Spain’s economic recovery has been gathering pace in the third quarter, prompting a top international organization and the Bank of Spain to improve their forecasts on Tuesday while the Spanish government looked to a return to pre-pandemic activity levels by the end of 2021.
One of the countries worst affected by the pandemic’s first wave in 2020, Spain’s GDP collapsed a historic 10.8%, but the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said on Tuesday it should be the group’s fourth-fastest growing economy in 2021, expanding by 6.8%.
The Bank of Spain also upgraded its 2021 growth forecast slightly, to 6.3%, although it said uncertainties associated with the pandemic remain.
The central bank said it did not expect activity to regain pre-pandemic levels until 2022, cooling the optimism of the Spanish government, which is betting heavily on the stimulus effect from European Union recovery…
