Indebted regions demand stay of execution

Published on 27 July 2011 at 12:07

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In Spain, the debate over regional deficit limits has grown increasingly heated. Announcing that the country’s "regional governments are now on a war footing," the daily ABC reports the Fiscal and Financial Policy Council, which is to meet on 27 July in Madrid, will "highlight the new power in the regions ushered in by the 22 May elections." Now under the majority control of the right-wing People’s Party, the regions are demanding that José Luís Zapatero grant them a ten-year moratorium on the reimbursement of their debts to the state. Cutting these debts, which now amount to 19 billion euros is "an overriding necessity if we are to balance public accounts," remarks the conservative daily, which is critical of the "waste and poor management" of recent years. Negotiations on the regional deficits will take place in the wake of the final session in parliament (held on 26 July) in which "the house said its goodbyes to Zapatero," because early general elections are now on the cards for the autumn, points out ABC.

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