According to the Bank of Spain the embattled Eurozone nation has seen its economy shrink by 0.1% in the second quarter, if it turns out to be true then it will be the smallest drop since the country slid into recession at the end of 2011.
On a year by year basis the Bank is expecting Gross Domestic Product to have dropped by 1.8% in the second quarter; previous estimates had been for a decline of %. In the first quarter of 2013 the economy shrank by 0.5% between January and March. The Spanish economy has been mired in recession since the nation’s property bubble burst in 2008. Only strong exports have managed to offset shrinking output. The national economy still faces dire consumer and business sentiment.
“Between April and June, confidence indicators showed a progressive improvement which could point to a more favourable domestic spending in the next few quarters,” the central bank said.
The Spanish government has said it expects the economy to emerge from recession by the third quarter, though many economists are less optimistic, with the International Monetary Fund seeing economic contraction deep into next year.
The official GDP data is not release until July 30th when they will be published by the National Statistics Institute.
Elsewhere in the Eurozone the French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici declared that the French recession is over. Speaking on Europe 1 radio he cited forecasts from the INSEE and Bank of France that the nation’s economy will expand by 0.2% in the second quarter of the year. Optimism among French industrial firms reached their highest levels in a year. The INSEE survey of industrial morale rose for a fourth month straight to 95.
Moscovici declared: “Now we need to work to transform this exit from recession into a genuine recovery.”
Euro (EUR) Exchange Rates
As of 11:00 am
The Euro/US Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.3168 <
The Euro/Pound Sterling Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.8588 >
The Euro/Australian Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.4258 >
The Euro/ New Zealand Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.6522 >
The Euro/ Canadian Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.3630 <