MADRID, March 22 (Reuters) - The Bank of Spain expects
the country's economic growth to accelerate slightly to 0.3% in
the first quarter from 0.2% in the preceding three months and
end the year at 1.6%, above its previous estimate of 1.3%, it
said on Wednesday.
The central bank also warned that the global financial
sector turmoil could weigh on economic growth in the coming
quarters, but said its concrete projections for Spain did not
take into account that latest adverse shock.
The revision of the official growth forecast for this year
was in line with last month's predictions by the bank's chief
economist and came largely thanks to a knock-on effect from
stronger-than-expected expansion of 5.5% last year.
As supporting factors, it mentioned the easing of
inflationary pressures, the reopening of the Chinese economy and
the easing of bottlenecks in global supply chains, and the
implementation of investment projects backed by EU funds.
(Reporting by Jesus Aguado, editing by Andrei Khalip)
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