Is Spain the next Greece?
Spain unveils deep budget cuts amid EU economic fears
Spain's PM has outlined a plan to tackle the country's budget crisis, amid concerns that problems afflicting Greece may spread across the eurozone.
Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero announced a 5% cut to public sector salaries, as well as reductions to pensions and regional government funding.
He said the plan would save about 15bn euros ($19bn; £12.5bn) over two years.
At the weekend Spain said it wanted to drastically reduce its budget deficit, which currently stands at 11% of GDP.
The aim of the new package is to trim this deficit to 6% of GDP in 2011.
In his speech to parliament, Mr Zapatero revealed other details of the plan. Automatic increases in pensions will be suspended from 2011 and funding for regional governments cut.
"We aim to cut civil service wages by an average of 5% in 2010 and freeze them in 2011," he added.
He said his own salary and those of senior cabinet members would be cut by 15%.
Mr Zapatero said he wanted "to contribute, with our financial stability, to the financial stability of the eurozone".
The cabinet is to vote on the new proposals later this week.
The BBC's Sarah Rainsford in Madrid says Mr Zapatero approved an austerity package in January but that since then little has happened.
Our correspondent says Mr Zapatero had shied away from really painful measures.
But Madrid is now under pressure from the European Commission to deliver.
EU jitters
The European Union has been anxious to see more fragile European economies including Spain, Portugal and Greece impose tougher austerity measures.
On Sunday it approved a 750bn-euro rescue package to prop up European economies struggling with large debts.
Many Spaniards fear the effect the cuts will have on the economy, which has already contracted sharply, and where the unemployment rate exceeds 20% - twice the eurozone average.
Mr Zapatero was speaking as government statistics showed Spain had moved out of recession in the first quarter of this year, with growth of 0.1%.
On Tuesday US President Barack Obama called Mr Zapatero, urging him to take "resolute action".
The White House said Mr Obama was actively engaged in lessening the global impact of Europe's debt crisis.
Spain's PM has outlined a plan to tackle the country's budget crisis, amid concerns that problems afflicting Greece may spread across the eurozone.
Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero announced a 5% cut to public sector salaries, as well as reductions to pensions and regional government funding.
He said the plan would save about 15bn euros ($19bn; £12.5bn) over two years.
At the weekend Spain said it wanted to drastically reduce its budget deficit, which currently stands at 11% of GDP.
The aim of the new package is to trim this deficit to 6% of GDP in 2011.
In his speech to parliament, Mr Zapatero revealed other details of the plan. Automatic increases in pensions will be suspended from 2011 and funding for regional governments cut.
"We aim to cut civil service wages by an average of 5% in 2010 and freeze them in 2011," he added.
He said his own salary and those of senior cabinet members would be cut by 15%.
Mr Zapatero said he wanted "to contribute, with our financial stability, to the financial stability of the eurozone".
The cabinet is to vote on the new proposals later this week.
The BBC's Sarah Rainsford in Madrid says Mr Zapatero approved an austerity package in January but that since then little has happened.
Our correspondent says Mr Zapatero had shied away from really painful measures.
But Madrid is now under pressure from the European Commission to deliver.
EU jitters
The European Union has been anxious to see more fragile European economies including Spain, Portugal and Greece impose tougher austerity measures.
On Sunday it approved a 750bn-euro rescue package to prop up European economies struggling with large debts.
Many Spaniards fear the effect the cuts will have on the economy, which has already contracted sharply, and where the unemployment rate exceeds 20% - twice the eurozone average.
Mr Zapatero was speaking as government statistics showed Spain had moved out of recession in the first quarter of this year, with growth of 0.1%.
On Tuesday US President Barack Obama called Mr Zapatero, urging him to take "resolute action".
The White House said Mr Obama was actively engaged in lessening the global impact of Europe's debt crisis.
Source: BBC News
Vocabulary Practice:
Complete the following sentences with a green word from above - in the correct form.
eg. I told him he was making a mistake and ___ him to think again.
Answer: urged
- How do you think we should ___ the problem?
- The company has agreed to ___ my trip to New York.
- After some ___ bargaining, we finally agreed on a deal.
- At the job interview she ___ what I would be doing.
- I always get the ___ the morning before an exam.
- I've been ___ to understand this document all afternoon.
- There was a ___ drop in temperature from one day to the next.
- He's never ___ hard work. You can depend on him.
- The redundancies are ___ across all departments.
- I like staying at home and reading a good book ___ going out with friends.
Comments
As your blog is like a library, I have looked for a similar situation like this and ¡eureka! I have found it. It is your post with the title "Is Spain the next Greece?". The current Spanish situation is very similar to this one described by the BBC News. Then, Mr. Zapatero announced a 5% cut to public sector salaries and he fulfiled it. The worst is that he didn´t give back this wage. When I see him on TV I tell him, please, give back my money but he ignores me.
The difference between Spain and Greece now is that Greece have done a good management about the coronavirus and Spain no. The management of Spain is one of the worst in the world. Greece said that they don´t want the Spanish to come their beaches at this moment.
The correspondent of BBC said that Mr. Zapatero I had shied away from really painful measures and Mr. Zapatero II (Sánchez) say the same. The European Union saw fragile economies of Spain, Portugal and Greece then, but we only see Spain, neither Portugal nor Greece now. Then, Mr. Obama called Mr. Zapatero to say: ¡Be careful!, but Mr. Trump and Mr. Zapatero II don´t talk each other.
Vocabulary:
1. Prop up
2. Fund
3. Trims
4. Outlined
5. Jitter
6. Struggling
7. Sharply
8. Shied away from
9. Spread
10. As well as
See you.
You can justifiably criticize the governments of ZP and Pedro Sanchez but I wouldn't leave out the government that we had in between. Under Rajoy and his cronies, corruption reached new heights (Barcenas, Gúrtel, Francisco Camps, Aguirre, slush funds, destruction of hard disks etc. etc.) Spain had to go cap in hand to its masters in Brussels, unemployment was at a record high, the gag law was introduced, home repossessions, massive health service cuts, attempt to repeal gay marriage rights in the constitutional court, police violence towards peaceful Catalan voters, etc. etc.
I am no fan of the current government but I look around at the alternatives and I despair. We deceive ourselves if we think that we wouldn't be in dire straits with others at the helm.
As your blog is like a library, I have looked for a similar situation like the one we are going through and ¡eureka! ... Then, Mr. Zapatero announced a 5% cut to public sector salaries and he fulfiled it. The worst thing is that he didn´t give that money back. When I see him on TV I tell him, please give my money back but he ignores me.
The difference between Spain and Greece now is that Greece has handled the coronavirus crisis well and Spain hasn't. The management of Spain is one of the worst in the world. Greece said that they don´t want the Spanish to come to their beaches for now.
The BBC correspondent said that Mr. Zapatero I had shied away from really painful measures and Mr. Zapatero II (Sánchez) says the same. The European Union saw fragile economies of Spain, Portugal and Greece then, but now we only see Spain. Neither Portugal nor Greece have the problems that we do. Then, Mr. Obama called Mr. Zapatero to say: ¡Be careful!, but Mr. Trump and Mr. Zapatero II don´t talk to each other.
Vocabulary:
1. How do you think we should tackle the problem?
3. After some tough bargaining, we finally agreed on a deal.
5. I always get the jitters the morning before an exam.
7. There was a sharp drop in temperature from one day to the next.