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Beijing (AFP) April 13, 2011 Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said Wednesday during a visit to China that he had no plans to take any new measures to reduce his country's public deficit. "There are no new plans on the horizon to have to take any new measures. None," Zapatero told a press conference at the Spanish embassy in Beijing. "The government hopes to push through new stimulus measures," the prime minister said, while insisting that his government would see through those reforms already undertaken. Zapatero's socialist government has slashed spending and passed pension reforms in its effort to reassure markets worried that Spain's public deficit is unsustainably high. It has also reformed the labour market in an attempt to revive the economy and fight an unemployment rate of just over 20 percent, the highest in the industrialised world. The country's central bank estimated late last month that Spain's public deficit will be equal to 6.2 percent of gross domestic product this year before falling to 5.2 percent on 2012. The government itself predicts the deficit will hit 6.0 percent in 2011 and 4.4 percent next year, a sharp improvement but still well above the European Union's 3.0 percent ceiling. "The Spanish economy is still in a difficult situation requiring the pursuit of ambitious and demanding policies to correct the fiscal imbalances, while pressing ahead with structural reforms conducive to growth and with the restructuring and recapitalisation of the banking system," the bank said. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said Tuesday in a meeting with Zapatero that Beijing was ready to buy more Spanish government debt -- support which should help advance Madrid's efforts. Zapatero, who will head to Singapore on Wednesday, is seeking new investments to shore up Spain's economy as it tries to avoid a crisis in refinancing and raising new debt. The prime minister said Wednesday that China now holds more than 12 percent of Spanish bonds, according to Dow Jones Newswires. The European Union and the International Monetary Fund bailed out Ireland and Greece last year and have now offered to help Portugal. Spain's economy is as large as that of Ireland, Greece and Portugal combined.
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