Figures issued by Spain's National Statistics Institute revealed that the country's five-year financial slump continues and that its economy is still contracting, despite the government's efforts to reduce its deficit, Bloomberg Businessweek reported.

After Spain's gross domestic product fell by 0.4% in the second quarter of the year, it fell an additional 0.3% during this past quarter, making it the fifth straight quarter in a row to record a GDP decrease. At the same time, the report revealed that inflation is driving consumer prices up. They have increased by 3.5% in the last twelve months alone, marking the highest monthly inflation rate in the last year and a half.

Analysts fear that this inflation, a by-product of austerity tax hikes instituted by Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, could very well add nearly $4 billion to Spain's pension debt, according to Bloomberg Businessweek.