Gibraltar to see double-digit growth 2015/16 - chief minister

LONDON (Reuters) - Gibraltar will see double-digit economic growth in the 2015/16 financial year, boosted by expansion in online gaming, banking and financial services, the country's chief minister said on Monday.

Gibraltar is a rocky outcrop off the southern coast of Spain ceded to Britain in 1713, but which Spanish authorities now want to reclaim.

It posted GDP growth of 10.3 percent for the 2014/15 financial year, Fabian Picardo told a Gibraltar event in London's City financial district.

"Our statistics office predicts similar double-digit growth next year," Picardo said.

The self-governing territory's low-tax regime has encouraged growth in gaming companies and in financial services such as insurance.

Gibraltar opened a stock exchange last year and the Gibraltar International Bank earlier this year.

It launched its first insurance-linked security (ILS) - insurance risk packaged as debt - earlier this year, competing with established centres such as Bermuda. London is also hoping to become a centre for ILS.

Financial services minister Albert Isola told the event that more such debt issues were "in train".

Gibraltar's membership of the European Union enables it to attract investors looking to sell financial services across Europe. Picardo welcomed the Britain Stronger in Europe campaign, which launched on Monday.

"Rock and City - together for mutual benefit and profit," he said.

(Reporting by Carolyn Cohn; Editing by Toby Chopra)