Economy
In reply to the discussion: STOCK MARKET WATCH, Monday, December 19, 2011. [View all]Ghost Dog
(16,881 posts)Spain's new prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, pledged public spending cuts of at least 16.5bn (£13.8bn) today and said he would force the country's banks to own up to the full scale of losses on bad property loans...
... Speaking to the parliament before he is formally voted in on Tuesday, Rajoy said that Spainhad no option but to embrace austerity and meet deficit targets set by the EU. In recent weeks the country's borrowing costs have soared dangerously close to a level that would force the country to seek an international bailout.
"The panorama could not be more sombre," he said. "We cannot be vague when setting out priorities."
Rajoy did not specify where the spending cuts would come from, but said much civil service recruitment would be frozen. He also proposed a drastic reduction in the number of state companies, quangos and other entities.
Rajoy admitted there was a worrying hole in the Spanish banking system with "latent and hidden losses" left by a burst housing bubble. The new government would oblige banks to reveal the full extent of toxic real estate assets, valuing land and properties they have received from bankrupt builders at realistic prices.
/... http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/dec/19/spain-prime-minister-spending-cuts