The Spanish economy will contract by 1.5 per cent this year and not start recovering until 2014, the Bank of Spain said in its forecast on Tuesday.
The European Commission and the Government have said they expect gross domestic product to shrink by 1.4 per cent and by 0.5 per cent respectively in 2013. The Government, however, intends to revise its forecast.
Unemployment will jump from 26.02 per cent in the end of 2012 to 27.1 per cent in 2013, the Bank of Spain said.
In 2014, the central bank expects a growth rate of 0.6 per cent, while unemployment will go down to 26.8 per cent.
The Spanish economy is in a “complicated” situation due to the need to cut spending and the euro debt crisis, the Bank of Spain said.
The Government will, however, be successful in gradually cutting the budget deficit from 6.7 per cent of GDP in 2012 to 6 per cent this year and to 5.9 per cent in 2014, according to the report.
The European Commission has recognised that Spain will not reach the target of 2.8 per cent that had been set for 2014.