Spain on track to meet 2012 deficit target

Spain's central government deficit stood at around 4.0 percent of output in June, putting the country on track to meet its overall deficit target, Budget Minister Cristobal Montoro said Monday. The central government, which is aiming for a deficit of 4.0 percent of gross domestic product this year, had a shortfall of around that figure "or a bit more" in June, he said, up from 3.41 percent in May. But if cash transfers to Spain's struggling regional administrations are excluded, the central government deficit would have been 2.5 percent at the end of June, up slightly from 2.38 percent in May, he said. The transfers are made each year but they were paid early this time to help the cash-strapped regions. "This guarantees that the public deficit goal for the entire state for 2012 will be met even though there will always be risks until the year is over and there is no room to relax," he told a news conference. Spain's overall public defict -- which includes figures from the country's 17 regional governments, municipalities and the social security system -- is targeted at 5.3 percent of gross domestic product this year. It was 8.9 percent in 2011, the third-largest in the eurozone. Madrid is under intense pressure by nervous debt markets to tame its public deficit and the government has raised taxes and slashed spending in response, provoking angry street protests.