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...2003. This year, analysts expect the economy to expand by 3%, easily outpacing the eurozone average of 1.8%, according to the Organisation for Economic Co- operation and Development (OECD).
"As global recovery emerges, Spain stands out as the major euro area country where the pick-up is most evident. This overall performance is a tribute to the two pillars guiding economic policy: a stability-oriented fiscal policy and the pursuit of structural reforms," said the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in November.
Many contributed to Spain's success but one man stands out as a bigger piece of the puzzle than anyone else: deputy prime minister and economy minister Rodrigo Rato, The Banker's global finance minister of the year. Although the country's economic turnaround did not begin last year - the starting point can be traced back to the mid-1990s when the government implemented key structural reforms - what made 2003 stand out was the widening divergence between Spain and its bigger eurozone neighbours, a just reward for Mr Rato's long-term thinking.
Mr Rato has been key to the country's economic policies throughout Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar's eight years in office. In that time, the economy has created four million jobs, has grown at one of the fastest rates in...
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