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Rajoy insists Spain heading for 2.4 pct growth in 2015

Xinhua, February 25, 2015 Adjust font size:

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy on Wednesday repeated his prediction that his country would see its gross national product (GNP) grow by 2.4 percent during the current year.

Rajoy had made his prediction, which is well above those of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) or the Bank of Spain, during his speech at the state of the nation debate in the Spanish Congress on Tuesday.

Rajoy's comment was roundly criticized by opposition speakers, who accused him of giving a view of Spain which didn't exist, and of electioneering in a year when Spain will see four different elections, including local, regional and general elections. Nonetheless, the Spanish Prime Minister reaffirmed his assertion early in the second day of the debate.

He said his prediction was "reasonable," and reiterated that his People's Party aimed to create over a million jobs during its next legislature.

"We have to be ambitious and take decisions which will create employment...Things are going to improve," said the Prime Minister, who added that "external factors," such as the low price of oil, would help Spain's economic recovery and give a boost to the export market.

He admitted that predictions for growth in the rest of Europe were not good and this could be a contributing factor in his country's economy, but highlighted that Spain did not just depend on the EU as a market.

"Exports have risen to other areas of the globe," he commented.

On Wednesday, Rajoy also discussed the current situation in Greece, where the left-wing Syriza party, which has close links with the Spanish party, Podemos, won the recent elections.

"We want Greece to do well, but for them to fulfil their obligations," said Rajoy, whose government is thought to have been in favor of toeing a hard-line in the recent EU negotiations with the Greeks over their debt extension.

"Greece's debt to the EU is practically the same as the country's GNP," he commented, adding the Greeks had to "play by the rules of the game." Endit