Spain's Growth Stagnates In Second Quarter

MADRID, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News -25th Augst,2016) - Spain's economic growth stagnated in the second quarter, official data showed Thursday, as the country remains mired in political limbo after two inconclusive general elections. The Ine statistics agency said that GDP expanded by 0.8 percent compared to the previous three months -- slightly higher than the 0.7 percent estimate it had announced in July. The agency always publishes an initial estimate, followed by a definitive figure. The 0.8 percent growth in the second quarter was the same as that of the first three months of 2016.

Compared to the same period in 2015, the economy rose 3.2 percent from April to June -- a slower rate than the first quarter when the economy grew 3.4 percent year-on-year, due to slower domestic demand, the Ine said. Overall, Spain -- which has been without a fully-functioning government for eight months -- forecasts that the economy will grow 2.9 percent in 2016. The blockage started after elections on December 20 failed to give any party an absolute parliamentary majority, as upstart groupings Ciudadanos and Podemos shook up Spain's long-established two-party system.