Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said Monday he will freeze his wages and those of other high-level officials as part of an austerity plan as the country battles an economic slowdown.
Zapatero said Spain's economy will grow less than 2 percent in 2008, compared to the expansion of 3.8 percent in 2007.
Spain will "have a weak growth in the short term, but not a permanent stagnation," Zapatero said while presenting a report on the state of the economy.
The government will hire 30 percent fewer workers and freeze wages for senior public servants, said the prime minister, who expected an economic recovery in the country in mid-2009.
The wages freeze will affect Zapatero and other senior positions in the executive branch and in state-owned companies, but not in the legislative or judicial branches.
Zapatero has an annual wage of 92,000 euros (some 138,000 U.S. dollars) and his ministers about 81,000 euros (some 125,000 dollars) per year, compared to a national average of 17,000 euros (31,000 dollars) per year.
After a decade of strong expansion, Spain's economy began to experience a standstill at the end of 2007, when the country witnessed a collapse in the construction industry, which had been the main driving force behind the expansion.
Spain is better prepared than ever to face and overcome the economic deterioration, Zapatero said.
In April, the Spanish government announced a fiscal stimulus measure, totaling 18 billion euros (28 billion dollars), to reinvigorate the economy.
Zapatero said his government will save at least 250 million euros (300 million dollars) in 2008 and 2009 under the austerity measures to guarantee the balance of public finances.
Source:Xinhua
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