Spain's economic
growth may have exceeded the 3.2 percent pace officially projected by the
government for 2016, Economy Minister Luis de Guindos said in a radio
interview
on Sunday.
De Guindos also said
Spain would be looking to maintain its net debt issuance target for 2017 at
around 35 billion euros ($37 billion).
A household spending
revival, led by a turnaround in the job market, has helped Spain extend its
recovery from a deep recession in spite of still high unemployment and
political uncertainty.
De Guindos told
Cadena Ser radio that economic output last year could have been above 2015
levels. The government's official growth projection for both 2015 and 2016 is
3.2 percent.
"At this time
the estimate we're handling is that growth may have been higher in 2016 than in
2015," De Guindos said.
He forecast that
inflation, which rebounded sharply in December as global oil prices surged,
would average around 1 percent in 2017.
Spain took 10 months
to form a government in 2016 after two inconclusive elections, before
conservative leader Mariano Rajoy was reinstated for a second term as prime
minister in October.
With a weak minority
in parliament, Rajoy is still wrangling with opposition parties over a budget plan
for 2017 that would convince the EU that Spain can reach its deficit targets.
De Guindos said he
believed the European Commission would not demand extra measures to reach a
deficit goal of 3.1 percent of output in 2017 after the Spanish government outlined
plans to hike some taxes. It aims to eliminate some tax breaks for companies
and raise levies on alcohol, tobacco and sugared drinks.
($1 = 0.9512 euros)
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