Spanish govt sees economy back to pre-pandemic levels by end of 2021

The Spanish government expects the economy to recover to pre-pandemic levels by the end of this year, Economy Minister Nadia Calvino said on Tuesday, as she maintained previous growth forecasts for this year and the next.

Speaking at a news conference, Calvino maintained the economic growth targets of 6.5% for 2021 and 7% for 2022 and said GDP was likely to be higher in the first quarter of 2022 than in the first quarter of 2019.

The Economy Ministry had previously said the economy would return to pre-pandemic levels in 2022.

Calvino stuck to her previous forecast that unemployment would fall to 15.2% at the end of 2021 from the 15.3% reported in the second quarter, but still significantly higher than the 13.8% seen in the fourth quarter of 2019.

Solid domestic demand and looser COVID-19 restrictions during the summer as well as a partial recovery of the tourism industry, including the return of a significant number of foreign tourists have contributed to a rosier outlook.