Carlos Body: “The Spanish economy will grow above 2.4% in 2025” | Economy | EUROtoday

The Minister of Economy, Commerce and Business, Carlos Body, introduced this Wednesday, January 1, that the Spanish economic system will develop in 2025 above the two.4% that the Government initially anticipated. “What we will have for 2024 is a growth of 3.1% or 3.2%, depending on the final impact that the dana has, and that gives us a drag of 1.2 growth points for the start of 2025, for “This year will also have strong and robust growth,” the minister said in an interview with Cadena SER.

In the current macroeconomic picture, the latest government projections place the increase in GDP at 2.4% by 2025, but the head of Economy, who just this Wednesday celebrates one year at the head of the Ministry, believes that they will fall short. “When we have the figures for the last quarter it will be clear that we could be above 2.4%. “We are going to update the forecast at the end of January, when we have the economic growth figures for 2024 as a whole,” he said.

Despite these positive signs, Corpus recognizes that citizen perception still does not fully reflect the recovery. The minister sets the goal that “this good news reaches citizens in their daily lives and that they feel a point of pride in how the Spanish economy is behaving.” When requested why a part of the residents don’t understand the nice financial progress, Corpus has careworn that “we have the double effort of ensuring that good macro data reaches the citizens’ daily lives, that is, transferring this in terms of micro reality, and the element of expectations, because two thirds of those surveyed by the CIS say that their personal economy is going well.”

“Spain is contributing 40% of the growth of the euro zone and, in addition, we are creating jobs on a par with France and Germany together. It is sustainable growth because it is balanced and allows us to achieve things that were not achieved before,” he emphasizes.

Regarding the General State Budgets, the Government trusts in having new public accounts that accompany this economic path. “It is very important to approve the Budgets because it is the way to translate into money the great economic policy objectives we have. “We are going to work arduous to achieve an settlement on budgets for the 12 months 2025,” says Carlos Body.

However, he admits the current difficulties in achieving parliamentary approval, as is the case with the tax on the profits of energy companies, which could decline due to not receiving sufficient support. “I believe that we have already made that effort and we have fulfilled our commitment,” he concludes. He also insists that “the minimum wage can continue to be raised,” with the reference to reaching at least 60% of the average wage in Spain: “We must ensure that workers with lower salaries also benefit from the evolution of the economy.” . Body also remembers that the Government maintains the objective of reducing the working day to 37.5 hours per week in 2025.

The minister guidelines out similarities with the true property increase of 2007 even if the sale of properties and the signing of mortgages are near file ranges. “The construction sector weighs around 6% of the GDP and reached 12%-13%. There is room for the sector to grow, and another starting point is the financial situation of households, much better than in 2007.”

Body also alludes to the threat of a new tariff escalation if Donald Trump returns to power in the United States. “Entering a trade war or raising tariffs or protectionist measures is not going to benefit anyone.” Faced with this situation, Europe, he maintains, “must protect its strategic industries” in order that they compete on equal phrases.