By Susana Lima

The Minister of Economy and Competitiveness of Spain, Luis Guindos, said the economy suffered a decline during the last quarter of 2011 of between 0.2 and 0.3 percent in contrast to the period between July and September this year.

During a ceremony of inauguration of the Ministry of Finance office, the representative said: Certainly in the last quarter the economy has had a relapse and will return to a negative growth rate, which will determine the profile in which we move into next year, it will be a relatively slowed profile.

Spain could fall into recession if the expected slowdown by the minister for early 2012 were to be translated into gross domestic product contraction in the first three months. The recession, defined as two consecutive quarters of decline, would show for the second time in 2009 when accumulated 18 months of decline.

Guindos disapproved any chance to see a recovery in the labor market during the coming months as the country shows an unemployment rate of 21 percent and there are 5 million unemployed people.

The earlier authorities predicted a growth in economy of 1.3 percent in 2011 and 2.3 percent for 2012, but the new government will review these estimates.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said the official figure for GDP growth for 2012 (2.3 percent) could be as high as 7 points lower than expected.

Despite this, most economists are confident that Spain will end the year with a 0.7 percent economic growth and 0.2 percent for 2012.

According to official data, more than 50,521 Spanish moved from the country due to the economic crisis, a 36.6 percent more than in 2010.

The Bank of Spain predicts that 2012 will end with an unemployment rate of 20.4 percent compared to the 19.8 percent calculated by the previous government.