Whether it’s to be believed or not who knows, but Spanish government sources are forecasting 2014 GDP growth in Spain will end up at 1.5 percent. How this is going to be achieved is anyone’s guess when Spain still has a 26 percent unemployment rate, salaries are less than last year, few new jobs are being created, Spaniards are leaving Spain in droves to find work in other countries, and Spain still has one of the largest deficits in the EU.
Some Spanish government sources currently in Greece for low-level EU meetings, however, are insisting 2014 GDP growth for Spain could get to 1.5 percent by the end of the year, as they believe Spain has finally ‘turned the corner’.
So what are they basing this 1.5 percent GDP growth in Spain on? Nothing more than market forecasts and early indicators in some segments of the market unfortunately,
Of course, we’d all love to believe that this is true. But the ruling party of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has been banging this particular drum for quite a while now yet nothing in Spain has changed, at least for the average Spaniard.
No matter where they live, they’re still seeing some of Europe’s highest unemployment rates, lines at the unemployment office around the block, the same pathetic jobs market as last year, and not much else.
Let’s hope Spanish government sources are correct but, unless they can pull something unexpected out of a hat before year’s end, I’d say it’s highly unlikely. As would most Spaniards I’ve spoken to.