Sanchez Says Spain to Be One of Fastest-Growing Major Economies

(Bloomberg) -- Spain is on track to be one of the fastest-growing economies among developed countries as the post-pandemic recovery accelerates, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said, adding that this growth will help his administration modernize the country.

“All of the forecasts of international institutions and our own forecasts that we have for the economic rebound this year and the next year put us in levels of 6% for this year and 7% of GDP for next year,” Sanchez said during an interview with Reuters published Wednesday. “We are going to be one of the fastest economies in the developed world in the recovery.”

Spain’s economy plunged by nearly 11% in 2020, the sharpest contraction in the European Union. That is paving the way for a sharp economic rebound this year and next, buoyed in part by around 140 billion euros ($165 billion) in EU recovery funds that Madrid has said it will invest during the next six years on making Spain’s economy more green, more digital and more competitive.

Sanchez said his administration aims to mobilize billions of dollars in private-sector funds from Spanish and foreign firms to provide additional momentum to modernize Spain’s economy. “We are expecting to leverage more or less $500 billion in private investments and we are looking forward to having the collaboration and participation of the U.S. private sector.”

Sanchez is on a three-day visit to the U.S. to drum up interest among firms to invest in Spain. He’s stopping in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco and he’ll meet with chief executives of Netflix, HBO and Disney as well as BlackRock Inc. Chairman Larry Fink.

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