Spain reported Friday it had barely missed its deficit-cutting target for 2013, hailing the result as a significant achievement in a year of job-wrecking recession.
The annual public deficit fell to the equivalent of 6.62 percent of gross domestic product in 2013, just beyond the 6.5-percent target, Budget Minister Cristobal Montoro told a news conference.
"It is a positive figure, especially because it was a year of recession," he said.
Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's conservative government has struggled to contain annual deficits by raising taxes, freezing public salaries and curbing spending on items such as education and health despite angry street protests.
Spain's total accumulated public debt nevertheless climbed to the equivalent of 93.9 percent of GDP in 2013 from 86.0 a year earlier, the Bank of Spain said this month.
Spain reported Friday it had barely missed its deficit-cutting target for 2013, hailing the result as a significant achievement in a year of job-wrecking recession.
The annual public deficit fell to the equivalent of 6.62 percent of gross domestic product in 2013, just beyond the 6.5-percent target, Budget Minister Cristobal Montoro told a news conference.
“It is a positive figure, especially because it was a year of recession,” he said.
Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s conservative government has struggled to contain annual deficits by raising taxes, freezing public salaries and curbing spending on items such as education and health despite angry street protests.
Spain’s total accumulated public debt nevertheless climbed to the equivalent of 93.9 percent of GDP in 2013 from 86.0 a year earlier, the Bank of Spain said this month.
