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Spain to top EU growth tables in 2015: IMF

George Mills
George Mills - [email protected]
Spain to top EU growth tables in 2015: IMF
The story of Spanish growth is a rare piece of good news in an IMF report which predicts the global economy will grow 3.8 percent in 2015, lower than the 4 percent figures touted in July. File photo:

Spain will grow faster than any other country in 2015 in the European Union but unemployment will remain stubbornly high, the International Monetary Fund said on Tuesday.

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Spain's economy will expand 1.3 percent in 2014 and 1.7 percent in 2015, according to the IMF's latest World Economic Outlook.

Both those forecasts are a single decimal point higher than IMF forecasts in July, and this means the country is now tipped to notch up the strongest growth in the EU next year.

The story of Spanish growth is a rare piece of good news in an IMF report which predicts the global economy will grow 3.8 percent in 2015, lower than the 4 percent figures touted in July.

The resumption of Spanish growth is "supported by external demand as well as higher domestic demand reflecting improved financial conditions and rising confidence," the IMF said in the report.

But it's not all good news for Spain: unemployment is likely to remain at a high 23.5 percent in 2015, down from the current 24 percent. That's second only to Greece where the jobless rate won't pass the 23.8 percent-mark next year.

"Spain is leaving its problems behind, but faces a problem of low inflation" warned Thomas Helbling, Division Chief at the IMF's World Economic Studies Division, sounding a further warning on Wednesday. 

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