Economy
Economy - overview: Spain's mixed capitalist economy supports a GDP three-fourths that of the four leading West European economies. Its center-right government has staked much on gaining admission to the first group of countries to implement the European single currency by developing an austere 1997 budget - including a wage freeze for public-sector employees - in hopes of meeting the Maastricht monetary convergence criteria. The government slashed spending by $1.6 billion in mid-1996 to ensure that Spain's deficit did not exceed its target of 4.4% of GDP for the year; the government forecasts a deficit of 3% for 1997. The AZNAR administration advocates liberalization, privatization, and deregulation of the economy, and has introduced some tax reforms to that end. Unemployment, nevertheless, remains the highest in the EU at about 22%, but the government, for political reasons, has made only limited progress in changing labor laws or reforming pension schemes, which are key to the sustainability of Spain's economic advances.
GDP: purchasing power parity - $593 billion (1996 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 2.4% (1996 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $15,300 (1996 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 3.6% industry: 33.6% services: 62.8% (1995 est.)
Inflation rate - consumer price index: 3.7% (1996 est.)
Labor force: total: 12.475 million by occupation: services 62%, manufacturing, mining, and construction 29%, agriculture 9% (1996)
Unemployment rate: 22% (1996 est.)
Budget: revenues: $113 billion expenditures : $139 billion, including capital expenditures of $15 billion (1995)