Today's prime-time event is about to begin. In a few moments (pending further delays) Mariano Rajoy will begin listing the terms of his 2013 Austerity Budget which is expected to delineate the cuts, and further austerity measures (which so far have been non-existent - recall that Y/Y Spain has seen its tax revenues slide by nearly 5% while spending has increased by almost 9%) which will be a precursor to the Spanish bailout, that Spain has less and less time to enact before it runs out of cash. This could possibly lead to further violent outbursts among the throw of protesters which has once again surrounded parliament, as happened on Tuesday, depending on the resolve of the protesters.
Earlier from Bloomberg:
Ministers will explain how Rajoy plans to meet his commitment to cut the deficit by at least 18 billion euros ($23.2 billion) next year, defying tens of thousands of demonstrators who fought with police in Madrid this week. They called for the premier to reverse his budget-cutting drive and resign. Rajoy told a conference in New York yesterday that the “immense majority” of Spaniards aren’t on the street and he still has three years to overhaul the economy.
“Rajoy is likely to face a very tough end of year in terms of social discontent,” said Antonio Barroso, a political analyst at Eurasia Group in London and a former Spanish government pollster. “Protests are likely to continue in the future, and the overall degree of mobilization could increase if trade unions decide to call for a general strike.”
Follow the live webcast below.
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