The IMF on Tuesday predicted that the Spanish economy would continue to struggle this year, with the recession deepening and unemployment rising to a record level level of 27 percent.
In its latest World Economic Outlook report, the International Monetary Fund forecast the Spanish economy would decline 1.6 percent this year before a slight recovery occurs next year when GDP is expected to grow by 0.7 percent. The IMF previously forecast GDP would shrink 1.5 percent this year and grow 0.8 percent in 2014.
The European Commission expects the Spanish economy to contract by 1.4 percent this year, while the government’s official forecast is for a decline of just 0.5 percent, although the administration is expected to revise this figure when it updates its macroeconomic forecast on April 26th.
Greece and Portugal, both of which have received bailouts, and Slovenia, which may also have to be rescued, are the only countries in the Eurozone expected to perform worse than Spain in 2013.