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Spain revises downward its growth

This is an ad that should delight the financial markets Friday, although it was more or less expected, after Spain was rocked by austerity. A foretaste of what awaits the European stock exchanges on Friday, was felt on Wall Street who lost nearly 4% on Thursday night, just missing to descend below 10,000 points. Unheard of for a year!

Contagion Greek-Spanish portugo

The Spanish government has significantly lowered its estimate on Thursday night growth for 2010. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) should grow as well as 1.3% this year, against a previous estimate of 1.8%.

"The fiscal consolidation process will result in a reduction of forecast growth," said Spanish Minister of Economy and Finance Elena Salgado.The new forecast reflects the austerity measures taken by other EU countries like Greece and Portugal "which can also affect" the Spanish growth, "she added.

Unemployment exceeds 20%

Shortly before the announcement, the Socialist government of Jose Luis Zapatero adopted a decree-law providing for the implementation of drastic cuts in public spending for 2010 and 2011, totaling 15 billion euros.These measures are intended to "expedite the process" of reducing public deficits, which rose to 11.2% of GDP last year.

These new measures will have a "clear social impact," acknowledged the head of government, facing an unemployment rate above 20% of the workforce.

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