MADRID: Spain's economic output picked up in October from the third quarter, when it posted one of the fastest growth rates in the euro zone, Economy Minister Luis de Guindos said in a newspaper interview published on Sunday.
"Early indications tell us that at least for the month of October growth was stronger than the third quarter," he said in the interview in the Spanish paper ABC.
Economic output in Spain grew by 0.8 percent from the second quarter to the third, preliminary data showed in October, slowing slightly from the previous quarter but still posting stronger growth than most European neighbours due to a buoyant consumer-led rebound.
The ruling People's Party (PP) is banking on the economic recovery to win votes in December's general election. De Guindos said Spain's economy could grow more than the 3.0 percent forecast for 2016. He also said there was margin for tax cuts if the economy continued to grow.
The next government must continue with sales of packets of shares in bailed-out lender Bankia, majority-owned by the state, and keep the lender as an independent entity, he said. Spain has agreed with Brussels to privatise the bank by 2017 as part of its rescue deal.
"The privatisation process must continue, it is part of the agreement with the European Commission," he said. "And the next government must go ahead with that."
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