Spain says economic output to improve early 2013

MADRID Aug 28 (Reuters) - Spain's economic output will improve in the first quarters of 2013, the Secretary of State for the Economy Fernando Jimenez Latorre said on Tuesday, after quarterly data showed the economy shrank 0.4 percent in the second quarter of this year.

"In principle we believe we're at the point of the biggest contraction, which will continue into the second half of the year. We'll start to see a correction from the first quarters of next year," Latorre said at a news conference in Madrid.

Spain is currently suffering from its second recession in three years. Gross Domestic Product fell 1.3 percent on an annual basis in the second quarter of 2012, worse than initial estimates of 1.0 percent.