Spain Deficit Falls 17% by end Q3

 

Spain's central government budget deficit fell by 17% by the end of Q3, as a result of strong austerity efforts in an attempt to resore investorconfidence and to make it more affordable for the country to access capital markets.

The National government reduced its 9 month deficit to EUR37 billion, or 3.4% of GDP according to a statement released by the Ministry of Finance earlier today.

The Spanish Central government is aiming to cut its overall budget deficit-also including regional and local governments-to 6% of GDP from 9.2% in 2010, but many observers say the deficit is likely to be at least slightly higher than that.

In the first eight months of the year, the deficit stood at 2.8% of GDP.