Minister unveils deficit attack plan

Madrid: Spanish Finance Minister Elena Salgado presents her plan for slashing the budget deficit by two-thirds, seeking to avoid the punishment investors have meted out to Greece.

The Cabinet will discuss spending cuts of as much as €50bn by 2013, said an official at the prime minister’s office in Madrid who declined to be named in line with policy.

The government aims to raise the retirement age to 67 from 65, Labour Minister Celestino Corbacho said.

Spain, heading for a second year of economic contraction, is under scrutiny amid investor concern that it will struggle to pay its debts, like Greece. The Greek deficit is 12.7% of gross domestic product. Though Spain’s national debt is about half of Greece’s.