“The fall in Spanish GDP looks to have accelerated significantly in the second quarter to a range whose midpoint would be a decline of around 20% quarter-on-quarter,” it said as part of its quarterly economic report.
Earlier in June, the Spanish central bank said the impact of a lockdown that started in mid-March would be fully felt in the second quarter, with a contraction likely around 16%-21.8%.
On Tuesday, the Bank of Spain’s governor Pablo Hernandez de Cos said the economy would begin recovering in the second half and, in a best-case scenario, could grow 16% in the third quarter versus the previous three months.
In its report, the Spanish central bank reiterated on Thursday the economy could overall contract by 9%-11.6% in 2020, without ruling out an even sharper contraction of 15.1% due to the possibility of a new wave of coronavirus.
On Wednesday, the International Monetary Fund published a forecast of an 12.8% economic slump for Spain this year due to the coronavirus.
