Spain Climbs from Bottom to Top of the Class Says JP Morgan

Manuel Arrollo, JP Morgan Asset Management for Spain and Portugal’s strategy manager has expressed an opinion that Spain “has gone from being at the bottom of the class to now sit at the top” after the government’s reforms and austerity measures have produced extremely promising and effective results.

Arrollo made these comments during a press release where he detailed the company’s economic forecast for Spain for the remainder of the year, in which he pointed out that our economy could grow by 2%.

He also claimed that while there are increasing reports that Europe could enter into a third recession, although it is unlikely, Spain will nevertheless continue to grow. He did not rule out that Greece, France or Italy could suffer greatly and see their economies fall into negative figures.

While the European market is experiencing slow growth and could enter into negative figures or stagnation, Arrollo praised the Spanish Government for its tough reforms and harsh fiscal strategy and says that the worst is over here.

JP Morgan believes that Spain has healed sufficiently, and the fact that banks are cautiously lending again, construction is returning to action, exports and industrial production are high and consumer confidence and spending are up all reflect these positive statistics. Spanish banks are also expected to pass current stress tests.

The JP Morgan representative has also ruled out that Europe will enter into a period of deflation, although it is a subject on everyone’s lips, particularly for those experts who are worried about recent strong dips on the stock markets and increases in risk premiums.

Source: www.expansion.com, www.thecorner.eu