German Finance Minister said that Spain is not Greece
Spain is not Greece, said Monday the German finance minister, Wolfgang Schauble, who said “great progress” made by Spain, despite the government’s announcement that it will break Mariano Rajoy of the deficit target agreed with Brussels this year .
“Spain has made much progress,” Schauble said upon arrival in Brussels for the meeting of finance ministers of the Eurogroup, which was slated for 17h (16h GMT).
Schauble came before the appointment to a bilateral meeting with the Spanish economy minister, Luis de Guindos, with whom he discussed the budget situation in Spain. “I will see my Spanish colleague (..) He’s pretty new to the job so we want to have more time out to discuss bilaterally in a more intense,” said the German minister.
When asked about if you could compare Spain with Greece responded: “No way.” “Spain has made great progress,” as reflected in the profitability of their bonds in the debt market, he said.
During the meeting of 17 ministers of the Eurogroup, De Guindos shall explain the reasons for the shortfall in 2011 in Spain soared to 8.5%, compared to 6% which had been agreed in Brussels the year before. And so it must convince its partners that the deficit target for this year will be 5.8% and 4.4% as agreed.
In that sense, it could seek allies among its members on issues such as Holland and Belgium, which also have budgetary slippages. As predicted as a hard pulse, De Guindos must convince its partners that this deficit target is a Spanish sovereign decision and does not break the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP), as maintains the target of 3% for 2013, the ceiling approved by the European Union.
Category: Money
