Spain's economic and fiscal outlook
Fecha: noviembre 2023
Raymond Torres and Fernando Gómez Díaz
Spanish outlook
SEFO, Spanish and International Economic & Financial Outlook, V. 12 N.º 6 (November 2023)
The forecast for GDP growth has been revised to 2.4% in 2023, up 0.2% from our projection in July, underpinned by the strong momentum at the start of the year, driven mainly by internal demand. Both public and private consumption have picked up strongly. However, a slowdown is underway and will become more palpable in the near future, due to the weaker external context, the exhaustion of household excess savings and the delayed impact of higher interest rates. Economic growth is projected at 1.5% in 2024, down 0.1 percentage points from our previous forecast. Yet, the favourable growth differential with respect to other EU countries would be maintained. The let-up in CPI should gain traction once the impact of the reversal of the current anti-inflationary measures has dissipated. Spain’s key source of vulnerability in the short- and medium-term is the country’s fiscal imbalance at a time when sovereign borrowing costs are rising sharply. Hence the importance of taking advantage of the opportunity afforded by the prevailing economic growth to embark on a roadmap for fiscal consolidation.