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This from AAP Spain/Portugal going deeper into recession

Spain bank says recession to deepen
27/03/2013 02:47AM AEST

Spain will seek deeper into recession this year and the unemployment rate, which is already at a record 26 per cent, will rise further as it continues to feel the fallout of the collapse of a property bubble, the central bank says.

The Spanish economy, the eurozone's fourth largest after Germany, France and Italy, will shrink by 1.5 per cent this year, after contracting 1.4 per cent last year, before posting a "modest rebound" in 2014 with growth of 0.6 per cent as private demand recovers, the Bank of Spain said in its latest bulletin.

Portugal economy to contract: bank
27/03/2013 01:04AM AEST

The Portuguese economy is set to contract by 2.3 per cent this year due to a sharp fall in domestic demand and disappointing export growth, the Bank of Portugal says.

With the new forecast, which predicts a deeper contraction than an earlier estimate of 1.9 per cent, Portugal is now in line with estimations made by Lisbon's creditors, the European Union (EU) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).