The Spanish economy is officially in recession, according to the latest figures.
The National Statistics Institute said the economy shrank 0.3% over the three months to the end of March, the second consecutive quarterly contraction.
But the contraction was not quite as much as economists had been expecting.
Concern over the weakness of the economy and the deficit have driven up the cost of borrowing for Spain, raising fears it will need a bailout.
Separately, Standard and Poor's downgraded the credit ratings of nine Spanish banks, including Santander and BBVA.
On Sunday, tens of thousands protested planned cuts in healthcare and education.
The cuts are part of the government's effort to reduce the public deficit to to 5.3% of gross domestic product in 2012, from 8.5 percent last year.
Source & Image : BBC
No comments:
Post a Comment