MADRID, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Spain's parliament on Tuesday gave the green light to the government to exceptionally suspend fiscal straightjacket rules in order to help the economy cope with the coronavirus pandemic.

The minority government's proposal to suspend the commitment to any deficit targets for two years and allow Spain to spend and borrow at will was passed by 208-1 votes with 138 abstentions following recent recommendations from the International Monetary Fund aimed at reviving the economy.

The regulations on deficit and debt ceilings were built into the constitution in 2011 during the euro zone debt crisis.

IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva warned last week that halting spending aimed at containing the pandemic and its economic impact could have serious consequences for the global economy.

"The suspension of the fiscal rules does not imply a suspension of fiscal responsibility," Budget Minister Maria Jesus Montero told parliament before the vote, assuring that when circumstances allow it, Spain would reimpose the rules.

In a faltering voice, which she attributed to her continuing recovery from the coronavirus, Elvira Rodriguez of the conservative opposition People's Party announced PP's abstention in the vote, which guaranteed the approval.

Hailed by Germany as an example to other nations at the time, the constitutional change approved by a previous Socialist government in 2011 with the backing from the PP has been heavily criticised by the hard-left Unidas Podemos, which is now part of the Socialist-led ruling coalition.

Then, the IMF, the European Commission and the European Central Bank forced Spain, in exchange for a banking sector bailout, to adopt fiscal stability rules binding it to EU structural deficit targets in order to convince the markets of its unwavering commitment to sound public finances.

As the pandemic struck Europe in March, the Eurogroup of euro zone finance ministers suspended the Stability and Growth Pact, which normally limits government spending and borrowing, but Spain's commitments still formally remained in place.

The constitution says parliament can allow for the deficit and debt ceilings to be surpassed in case of natural disasters, economic recession or emergency events outside the state's control.

The government expects a recession of 11.2% - the worst since the civil war - and a budget gap of 11.3% this year.

Next year, the euro zone's fourth-largest economy should rebound 7.2% and the deficit is projected at 7.7%, according to the draft budget.

Spain only managed to bring its deficit below the European Union's threshold of 3% from 2018, exiting the bloc's corrective procedure for excessive deficits last year. Its pre-pandemic deficit target for this year was 1.8% of GDP, and public debt was expected to end the year 94.5% of GDP.

The latest official projection puts debt at 118%.

(Reporting by Belén Carreño, editing by Andrei Khalip, William Maclean)