Spain's unemployment benefit "could be cut"

Spain's Minister of Labour and Immigration, Celestino Corbacho, has said how the government will have to have a "debate" about whether they should review the 420 euros aid, which is being claimed by almost half a million unemployed, at a time when steps are being taken to reduce the deficit.

With regards to the recently approved labour reform, he said he will not allow an employer an adjustment of its staff with "no more" than 20 days payment of compensation and added that "this will be so simple" because it is an act subject to judicial protection.

The Labour Minister also spoke of the pension reform which is currently being studied in the Pact of Toledo and hoped to reach an agreement as comprehensive as possible in the next two or three months with a set of recommendations.

He also stated how, in the short term, it should bring the current average retirement age of 63.10 years to an actual age of 65, and he did not rule out that in the future it be complemented by other measures. He went on to mention that in Spain, where the crisis has brought the unemployment rate to 20%, citizens have remained quite vulnerable, because in the last ten years it has built a welfare state and a safety net.