Madrid: Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy pledged on Saturday that the country’s economic growth could reach three per cent next year, well ahead of forecasts, if Catalonia returns to “normalcy” after the region’s secessionist drive.

At the height of the Catalan independence drive in mid-October, the central government in Madrid had lowered its 2018 growth forecast to 2.3 per cent from 2.6 per cent, a marked decline from the 3.1 per cent expected for 2017.

“If we recover normalcy, stability and calm, this 2.3 percent growth will be three percent next year,” Rajoy said at a meeting of his conservative Popular Party (PP) in Mataro, near Barcelona.

Madrid has ordered new regional elections for Catalonia on Dec.21 after ousting the government of former Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont and suspending the parliament over the independence bid.

International agencies including the IMF and the OECD have warned of the financial fallout of the crisis for the eurozone’s fourth-largest economy.

Agence France-Presse