Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has told in an interview that Spain’s economy would begin emerging from recession at the end of this year or the beginning of the next year. However, PM accepted that the rate of unemployment would remain high for some more time.

Presently, the rate of unemployment stood at 18 percent.

The Socialist leaders talked about the actions taken by the government, noting that they served to “alleviate the crisis” but had not yet yielded net employment gains.

While commenting on the Senate, Spanish PM responded to the criticism from the conservative main opposition Popular Party by highlighting some initiatives like 18.75 billion euros in government lending to businesses, households and regional administrations.

Meanwhile, the PM told reporters that the State Local Investment Fund has helped more than 14,000 businesses (mainly SMEs) and offered jobs to at least 421,000 people.

Pio Garcia Escudero, the Popular Party spokesperson, condemned the errors made by the government with its policy of details and debt that mortgage the future.

There has been 35.14 percent increase in the rate of unemployment in Spain in the past year. The PM’s statement came hours after the Labor minister disclosed the figures showing 2.6% increase in the unemployment in October.