The Balearic Confederation of Business Associations (CAEB) has arrived at a figure of economic growth for 2015, its president, Carmen Planas, saying yesterday that its estimate is 2.9%. If so, then this was two per cent above 2014's growth figure, while the forecast for 2016 is slightly up at 3.1%.
Planas said that recovery is gaining ground in the Balearics, stressing a fourth-quarter growth figure of 3.5%, making six quarters of consecutive growth, which has not occurred elsewhere in Spain. The final quarter of 2015 is what has given the confederation optimism to push its 2016 forecast to 3.1%, though Planas added that recovery is still vulnerable and that the economy may well slow in the second half of the year.
The CAEB report into business and employment shows that the business fabric in the Balearics is contributing to a swifter and more intense revival in employment and labour market normalisation than in other regions of Spain. Planas identified two key challenges for 2016. One is being able to contribute to an increase in GDP and employment and the other has to do with reformulating production processes in order to boost productivity and make better use of resources. "It's not a case of doing more but of doing better."
All sectors of the economy finished 2015 in positive shape. Construction, for example, experienced 3.7% growth. In 2014, it had slipped by 1.2%. The upward performance in 2015 was notable - from 1.8% in the first quarter to 4.9% in the fourth. The services sector, meanwhile, increased from 1.3% growth in 2014 to 2.9% last year. Between the first and final quarters growth was 2.5% to 3.4% in the fourth quarter.
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