MADRID, July 6, 2008 (AFP) - Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zaptero said Sunday his socialist government's reforms will allow Spain's economy, which is undergoing a hard landing after a decade-long building boom, to bounce back.

'We are going to go through some complicated months but we are going to overcome the economic difficulties,' he said on the final day of the party's annual general congress in Madrid.

'We are going to do this with measures aimed at those who suffer the most from the situation we are facing, and we are going to do it with decisive reforms to speed up the change of our productive model -- by investing strongly in infrastructure and innovation,' he added.

The prime minister said he wants Spain to double the number of scientists it has and be amongst the ten most scientifically advanced countries in the world by 2020.

The government predicts the economy will grow by less than 2.0 percent this year after expanding 3.8 percent in 2007 while the unemployment rate will rise to around 11 percent.

Growth in gross domestic product was just 0.3 percent in the first quarter from the previous quarter.

In April the government, which was re-elected in March, unveiled a 18 billion euro (28 billion dollar) spending plan, which includes income tax rebates and funding for public works, which is aimed at reviving the economy.

It is also seeking to stimulate growth by making it easier for people to start their own businesses, with measures such as cutting the time it takes to complete the paperwork to just 24 hours.

The government will also freeze the salaries of senior government figures, including the prime minister, and impose a 30 percent cut in hiring for civil service jobs next year as part of an austerity package.

The leader of the main opposition conservative Popular Party, Mariano Rajoy, accused Zapatero on Sunday of not doing enough to improve the economy.

'Zapatero's economic measures are cosmetic and what is needed here is surgery,' he told reporters.

The Bank of Spain has recommended that the government rein in wage growth and make the labour market more flexible to revive the economy.