Spanish economic growth sped up in second quarter -minister

MADRID (Reuters) -Spain's gross domestic product growth accelerated in the second quarter, pointing to a strong upswing over the course of this year, Economy Minister Nadia Calvino said on Monday.

She attributed the economic rebound to the government's post-pandemic stimulus plans financed by European Union rescue funds. Figures for the second quarter have yet to be released as it ends later this week.

Spain's statistics institute on Friday revised first quarter economic growth to 0.2% quarter-on-quarter, down from a previous 0.3% in April.

That month, the government lowered the official GDP growth forecast for 2022 from an estimated 7% to 4.3%, reflecting the economic toll wrought in Spain and much of the world by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The Spanish economy experienced a strong recovery in 2021 with an estimated 5.1% GDP growth after an historic fall of 10.8% in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

(Reporting by Emma Pinedo and Christina Thykjaer, editing by Inti Landauro and Mark Heinrich)