Spain's economy to grow by 2.1 pct in 2018: Bank of Spain

The Spanish economy will grow by 2.1 percent in 2018, according to predictions published Tuesday by the Bank of Spain.

The bank said the Spanish economy will grow by 2.7 percent this year and by 2.3 percent in 2017.

The economy will slow down due to the weaker impact of factors such as low prices of fuel and depreciation of the euro, it said, while expecting domestic demand to continue boosting the country's gross domestic product (GDP).

Private consumption will grow by 3 percent this year, by 1.8 percent in 2017 and by 1.5 percent in 2018 and exports will grow by 4.3 percent in 2016, by 4.8 percent in 2017 and 4.9 percent in 2018, it predicted.

The bank said that Spain's unemployment rate will fall to 19.7 percent this year after finishing 2015 at 22.1 percent, to continue falling to 18.3 percent in 2017 and to 17.3 percent by the end of 2018.

Meanwhile, employment will grow by 2.5 percent this year, by 1.9 percent in 2017 and by 1.8 percent in 2018.

The Bank of Spain encouraged carrying out more reforms to fight the public deficit in the country, saying that it will not fall below the EU-mandated 3 percent until 2018 when it will stand at 2.9 percent.

In 2017, the deficit will stand at 3.4 percent while this year it will fall to 4.1 percent compared to the 4.4 percent previously predicted, it said.

Spain missed the 2015 deficit target agreed with the European Union (EU) that stood at 5 percent compared to the agreed 4.2 percent. Endit