Spain's Finance Minister Elena Salgado today rejected forecasts that her country will fall back into recession, saying the government stuck by its forecast of growth during the second half.
"We predict positive growth in both the third and the fourth quarter," she said during an interview with Spanish radio.
The Spanish economy slumped into recession during the second half of 2008 as the global financial meltdown compounded the collapse of a property bubble. It stabilised in 2010 but growth remains anaemic.
Economic output grew 0.2% in the second quarter from the previous three months, after a 0.3% expansion in the first quarter.
