MADRID, May 7 (Reuters) -
The Bank of Spain is likely to revise upwards its 1.9% growth projection for the Spanish economy for 2024 in its upcoming update in June, central bank Governor Pablo Hernandez de Cos said on Tuesday.
Spain's gross domestic product expanded 0.7% in the first quarter, outperforming other big European Union economies, driven by its strong services sector that includes booming tourism.
In March, the central bank upped its full-year forecast from 1.6% expected previously, bringing it more in line with the government's projection of 2% growth.
De Cos told lawmakers on Tuesday that the good performance of employment, the stabilisation of geopolitical tensions and the additional improvement in activity in the tourism sector had also supported this trend.
"With this information, in addition to that available for the second quarter, we can expect the Bank of Spain to revise its growth projections for the Spanish economy upwards for 2024 in its next update, which will take place in mid-June," De Cos said in the presentation of the central bank's annual report. (Reporting by Jesús Aguado and Emma Pinedo; editing by Andrei Khalip)
