WASHINGTON – Talk about beating low expectations. Luis de Guindos, Spanish Minister of the Economy and Competitiveness, recently reported that Spain’s economic future is looking better than what the government had estimated a while ago.
Improved economic forecast?
The government believed the economy in 2014 would grow 1.2%. Instead it looks more like 1.3%. The revised growth estimate for 2015 is 2%, and not 1.8%.
But the really great news is about unemployment. There are good chances that Spain’s unemployment rate for 2014 will be “only” 24.7%, and not 24.9% as previously forecasted. And for 2015 it looks more like 22.9%, and not 23.3%.
So, cheer up Spain. With economic growth off the charts, most likely in two to three years unemployment will dip below 20%.
Imagine that. A stellar achievement.