In a blow to expectations, the first activity figures for July were translated. In fact, the Industrial Production Index (IPI) showed a surprising drop of 1.6% in the seventh month of the year, compared to the same period in 2017, according to the National Statistics Institute (INE).

The result was influenced by the fall of 2.5% in the mining area, which in turn was weighed down by climatic effects that affected the production of non-metallic products. Added to this was the manufacturing component, which contracted by 1.4% - its worst record in the last 16 months - despite the fact that the market consensus estimated a rise of 4%.

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