Salgado announces further reforms

 

Spain's Minster for Finance and the Economy, Elena Salgado, spoke to the press earlier on Sunday to announce how new reforms to be implemented later this month are expected to bring the country 4.9 billion euros and help control in the public deficit.

The Minister also expressed her frustration at the ECB, saying how the organisation should "do its job in supporting stability in the debt markets."

Head of the ECB, Jean-Claude Trichet, attracted criticism for his lack of support to the sale of Spanish government bonds last week which contributed to unease in the stock and debt markets.

Salgado also announced how the government would save 2.5 billion euros during 2011 through tax changes for large corporations.

Further savings of around 2.5 Billion euros will also be saved by the Health service purchasing cheaper pharmaceuticals.

These measures would help the government to cut the public deficit from 9.2% of GDP for 2010 to 6.0% for this year, to 4.0% next year and to 3.0% from then onwards.

The Bank of Spain, which forecasts economic growth of 8.0% in 2011, issued a report on Friday that sovereign debt market tensions could threaten the economic recovery of the country.