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9/23/12

Spain braced for further austerity as Madrid prepares for bailout - by Giles Tremlett

Recession-hit Spaniards will this week be told to swallow yet more austerity as the government prepares a fresh round of reforms and another budget filled with spending cuts and tax increases that will allow it to seek a bailout from eurozone partners.

Pension freezes are also expected to form part of a raft measures to prepare the way for the European Central Bank (ECB) to give Spain support to control borrowing costs that will eat up a large chunk of next year's budget.

The budget is to be announced on Thursday, alongside the reform programme. Neither seemed likely to contain measures to immediately ease Spain's chronic 25% unemployment, which some analysts expect will rise to 26.5% next year.

On Friday Spaniards will learn just how big the hole in their banks really is, with an official report expected to say these must find an extra €60bn to cover damage wreaked by toxic real estate loans.

Read more: Spain braced for further austerity as Madrid prepares for bailout | World news | The Guardian

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