Spanish government announces new anti-crisis measures

The Spanish government led by Mariano Rajoy on Thursday announced new measures to slash spending in order to combat the country's mounting economic problems. Just one week after the newly-elected government announced a package of sweeping cost cutting measures and tax increases, Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria said deficit of the country's social security system had been worse than estimated. This meant the government was forced to take further measures to meet its deficit-cutting targets, including limiting payment in cash in order to limit fiscal fraud and to deal with the "black" economy. Sanez de Santamaria estimated that the measure could save an extra 8.2 billion euros in 2012. The government would also seek to cut the number of debt-laden state-owned enterprises, and limit spending of the country's 17 Autonomous Communities, she said. At the same time, Saenz de Santamaria said the newly-elected Spanish Prime Minister Rajoy would not appear before the Congress until February.