Spain's economy to grow by 0.7%

The Spanish economy is expected to grow by 0.7 percent in 2014 after contracting 1.5 percent in 2013, the Spanish Saving Banks Foundation (Funcas) said on Thursday. Although the 2014 growth figure is 0.1 percentage point higher than its previous estimate, the projections are largely in line with that of the other sources. The Spanish government reported in April that the Spanish economy would contract by 1.3 percent in 2013 and grow by 0.5 percent in 2014. The European Commission predicted that the Spanish economy to contract by 1.4 percent this year while growing by 0.8 percent in 2014. Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said it will contract by 1.6 percent in 2013 while expanding by 0.7 percent in 2014. Funcas also predicted an unemployment rate of 26.9 percent for 2013 and 26.6 percent for 2014.