Posted on 04/16/2012 2:17:25 PM PDT by bruinbirdman
Madrid is plotting to strip Spain's regions of their powers in a radical bid to convince global investors that the nation can control its finances.
Officials said Madrid was ready to intervene if the regions continued to bust their budgets and hamper the central government's austerity drive.
Spain's borrowing costs rose to 6.08pc, plunging deeper into the territory considered unsustainably expensive.
Prime minister Mariano Rajoy warned that Spain would not be able to fund itself without the savage cuts and sticking to the deficit reduction plans.
"The fundamental objective at the moment is to reduce the deficit," he said a conference in Madrid. "If we don't achieve this, the rest won't matter: we won't be able to fund our debt, we won't be able to meet our commitments."
Almost all Spain's regions, which control large parts of their budgets including education and health, have exceeded their budget deficit targets. The southern region of Analucia, has been openly critical of Mr Rajoy's plans.
The officials, who remained anonymous, told reporters that Madrid could use both existing and new legislation to intervene in the region governments to force them to comply with the budget cuts.
Mr Rajoy appealed for patience from the markets while his government imposes the biggest cuts in 30 years in its bid to cut the budget deficit from 8.5pc to 5.3pc. "No one can expect such deeply rooted issues to be resolved in a few weeks," he said.
Spain's finance minister, Luis de Guindos, lashed out against the bond markets, blaming "Anglo-Saxon" traders for the spike in Madrid borrowing costs.
"There are many doubts about the euro project, especially in the Anglo-Saxon world," he said. "They tell you: 'When it's not Greece it will be Portugal; when it's not Portugal it will be Ireland; when
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
The world will eventually erupt in flames.
Greater and greater control in the hands of the few...all in the name of controlling a ‘crtisis”.
I fear that this trend will continue for decades.
Yinz can all laugh till the day we are forced to do this to Illinois and California.
Always someone else’s fault.
Anglo-Saxon traders, sure.
It is their fault nobody is willing to loan you money except at high rates - nothing to do with the fact that you spend spend spend without any end in sight - nope - Anglo-Saxon traders - all their fault.
What a bunch of Euro-weenie lackwits.
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