Spain's economy "very serious," says World Bank

TheWorld Bank saidWednesday that Spain's economic situation was "very serious" but added that the fiscal austerity measures adopted by Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero's government were steps "in the right direction."

The assessment was made by Andrew Burns, manager of global macroeconomics at the World Bank, during a press conference in Washington to present the organization's Global Economic Prospects 2010 report.

"I think that the situation in Spain is very serious and unemployment is extremely high," Burns said. But he added that the investors' outlook on Spain based on market indicators is not as bleak as their view on Greece or Portugal.

Also on Wednesday, the government continued to look for parliamentary support for its labor- reform package, which the Cabinet is expected to approve by decree on June 16—with or without an agreement from unionsand the CEOE employers' group.

Labor Minister Celestino Corbacho met yesterday with the leader of the ERC leftist Catalan nationalist bloc, Joan Ridao.

Corbacho has already held talks with the center-right Catalan CiU nationalists, the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) and the Canaries Coalition (CC).

Sources say that the government will meet less resistance from the parliamentary groups than it did when it passed the austerity measures package by one vote and 13 abstentions last month.

The government hopes to present the decree to Congress on June 22.

(Published by El País – June 10, 2010)