MADRID — Spain’s new conservative government revised upward its forecast for the country’s 2011 budget deficit, saying it would represent 8 percent of its gross domestic product, up from the 6 percent target of the last government.
The new administration approved 8.9 billion euros ($11.5 billion) in spending cuts Friday and maintained a freeze on civil servants’ salaries and a freeze on practically all government hiring, said Soraya Sáenz de Santamaria, a government spokeswoman.
Taxes on the wealthiest Spaniards will be raised but temporarily, for two years.
The government is seeking to reassure markets that it has a plan to get a grip on its public finances at the same time as it tries to kick-start an economy saddled with sky-high unemployment.
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