MADRID (Reuters) – The Spanish Economy Ministry is set on Tuesday to raise its gross domestic product growth target for this year above the current 2.4%, Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo said, in stark contrast with growth in other large euro zone economies.
Cuerpo said he would announce a revision of the government growth forecast above 2.5%, after the economy expanded around 0.7%-0.8% in the fourth quarter, he told radio station SER late on Monday in an interview.
“Let me have a small margin for surprise, but we will update. We were sincerely below 2.5% and we will update upwards,” he said.
The Spanish statistics department is due to release GDP growth data for the fourth quarter on Wednesday.
The strength of Spain’s economy contrasts with other large economies in the euro zone. In recent days, France and Germany have lowered their GDP growth targets for this year to 0.9% and 0.3% respectively, while Italy expects 1.2% growth.
GDP in the 20 countries sharing the euro grew by 0.4% in the third quarter from the previous three months, half the pace of Spanish growth, Eurostat data showed last month.
(Reporting by Jesus Aguado and Inti Landauro; Editing by Bernadette Baum)
