Spain passes delayed budget as new government looks to 2019

From Madrid Spain Spain’s parliament on
Thursday passed its long-delayed 2018 budget
on Thursday, clearing the way for the
minority Socialist government to start work
on next year’s accounts.
Approval of the budget, originally submitted
by the previous conservative administration,
was postponed last year after its efforts to
find allies to support the bill in parliament
were undermined by a unilateral
independence declaration in the northeastern
region of Catalonia.
The budget, the last one drafted by the
conservatives after six years in office, aims to
bring the public deficit below the European
Union ceiling of 3 percent of economic output
for the first time since before the 2008
economic crisis.
The EU set Spain a target of 2.2 percent for
this year, but concessions to an austerity-
weary population means the fiscal shortfall
will be closer to 2.7 percent, according to
Bank of Spain forecasts.
Work on the 2019 budget will begin almost
immediately, with the Socialists, who hold
just 84 seats in the 350-seat parliament,
proposing hikes in social security
contributions to help cover rises in pensions
and civil servants’ pay.
Reporting by Paul Day; Editing by Julien Toyer

and John Stonestreet