Spanish government launches 11-bln-euro stimulus package

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero announced Thursday an 11-billion-euro (14.3-billion-dollar) economic stimulus package to help the country cope with the global financial crisis.

He told parliament the package, which will be approved at a regular cabinet meeting on Friday, represents 1.1 percent of Spain's gross domestic product (GDP) and could create 300,000 jobs in 2009.

"It will be used to invest in public works, in infrastructure, especially by municipalities, which we hope will create 300,000 jobs next year," he said, adding the world was facing its "first global recession since World War II.

"A crisis as quick and intense as this one is without precedent and it has taken its toll on employment in our country," he said.

Spain is experiencing an abrupt economic slowdown as the global credit crunch puts the squeeze on an already weakened construction sector, causing the unemployment rate to hit 11.3 percent in the third quarter -- its highest level in over four years and the highest rate in the 27-member European Union.

The Spanish economy contracted for the first time since 1993 in the third quarter, shrinking 0.2 percent, leaving it on the brink of recession, which is defined as two consecutive quarters of negative growth.

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