Madrid, June 1 (IANS/EFE) The Spanish government accumulated a deficit of 2.45 billion euros ($3.5 billion) in the first four months of the year, a reduction of 53 percent from the same period in 2010, Economy Minister Elena Salgado said Tuesday.
The gap between revenue and spending was equal to 0.22 percent of gross domestic product.
Spain is on track to meet the goal of reducing the total public deficit – including both the central and regional administrations – from the 2010 level of 9.2 percent of GDP to 6 percent this year, Salgado said.
Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero’s government embarked last year on an austerity programme aimed at cutting Spain’s deficit to 3 percent of GDP by 2013, in line with European Union mandates.