Spain stuck in recession, exports offer hope

The crisis hit Spanish economy remained in recession in the second quarter but seemed close to a recovery thanks to exports, the the Bank of Spain said on Tuesday. "According to available data, that is still incomplete, we estimate GDP (gross domestic product) fell by 0.1 percent on a quarterly basis, a yearly drop of 1.8 percent," the central bank said in a statement. But the Bank said the contraction had slowed considerably, eased by a boost in demand for Spanish exports which had made a 0.4-percent contribution to the country's gross domestic product during the quarter. Spain, the eurozone's fourth-biggest economy, has been sunk in recession since mid-2011 and officially contracted by another 0.5 percent in the first quarter this year. But the Spanish government has repeatedly signalled in the past month that the economy is about to get back on track on the wave of resurging exports. Last week the government said Spain's trade deficit narrowed sharply in May. Exports have been a rare bright spot for the Spanish economy which is struggling to recover from a 2008 property crash that has pushed the jobless rate up to a record 27 percent.