Spanish gov't not to impose new taxes

Spain's Minister of Finance and Public Administration Cristobal Montoro Romero affirmed Sunday that his government would not levy new taxes that could affect the interests of the low-income families. The conservative government of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy will neither cut the unemployment benefits being received by the jobless people nor increase the value added tax, the minister told reporters here tonight. He was commenting on recently growing speculations about new austerity measures that could be taken by the government to revive the faltering economy in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. The government is determined to prod economic growth and cut the budget deficit through promotion of investment to create up to five million jobs, Romero added. The government has recently announced that it needed up to Euro 30 billion in the current fiscal year in order to cut down the budget deficit from 8.5 percent to 5.8 percent of the GDP of Fiscal Year 2011.