From stagnation to recession. Spain's GDP has also started to contract. This is what emerges from the latest data published by the Banco de España, the country's central bank. In the fourth quarter of 2011 the Spanish GDP decreased by 0,3% – in the same period of 2010 it marked a +0,3% – after having recorded zero growth in the third quarter. Overall, however, the GDP in 2011 was 0,7% higher than that recorded in 2010.
But the forecasts of the Spanish central bank are not at all optimistic. In line with the economic slowdown across the euro area, the Spanish economy will contract by 1,5% in 2012. "The worsening, since the summer of last year, of the tensions between the financial markets of the euro area", reads the bulletin of the Banco de España, "has debilitated the confidence of private agents and worsened the financing conditions, jeopardizing the prospects of economic growth".
In Madrid the Ibex index lose 0,11% and spread is on the rise a 356 points.
