(Bloomberg) -- Spain’s recent floods, which killed more than 200 people, will trim as much as 20 basis points off the expected economic growth this year, according to CaixaBank SA.
The flash floods, which destroyed thousands of cars and buildings across 78 towns, as well as bridges and roads, will result in the economy growing 2.9% to 3% in 2024, Enric Fernandez, head of research at CaixaBank, said at a press conference on Tuesday. Caixa, as the bank is known, estimates that the economy would have expanded 3.1% without the impact of the storms.
Spain suffered its biggest natural disaster in more than six decades on Oct. 29, when storms in the region of Valencia led rivers to overflow and provoked large mudslides. The regional government has said that it needs about €31 billion ($32.9 billion) to start the reconstruction, with the central government so far having said it will “mobilize” some €14 billion, including direct aide and financial guarantees for bank loans.
The public aid packages announced so far “will have a positive impact,” Fernandez said, adding that it’s too early to quantify it.
In the days after the floods, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez ordered the largest peacetime deployment of military and police troops to help with relief efforts.
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