The file photo shows the entrance to the Madrid branch of Spain’s Number 2 bank, BBVA.
The second-biggest Spanish bank by assets, BBVA, has reported a 44.2-percent drop in its 2012 net profit as the European country continues to grapple with economic problems.
According to a statement released by BBVA on Friday, the bank’s net profit last year contracted to 1.676 billion euros (USD 2.283 billion).
This comes after the Bank of Spain announced that the country’s economy had shrank by 1.3 percent in 2012.
According to a report released by the bank on January 23, Spain’s gross domestic product (GDP) also slumped 0.6 percent in the final quarter of 2012 from the previous quarter.
Battered by the global financial downturn, the Spanish economy collapsed into recession in the second half of 2008, taking millions of jobs with it.
The eurozone’s fourth-largest economy must lower its deficit to 4.5 percent in 2013 and 2.8 percent in 2014. However, economists say those targets will be difficult to meet amid poor prospects for the country’s economic recovery.
The Spanish government has also been sharply criticized over the austerity policies that are hitting the middle and working classes the hardest.
Europe plunged into financial crisis in early 2008. Insolvency now threatens heavily debt-ridden countries such as Greece, Portugal, and Spain.
The worsening debt crisis has forced EU governments to adopt harsh austerity measures and tough economic reforms, which have triggered incidents of social unrest and massive protests in many European countries.
MAM/HMV
