Spain sets public deficit target at 3.6 pct of GDP for 2016

Spanish government said Tuesday it is setting a new public deficit target of 3.6 percent of GDP (gross domestic product) for this year and 2.9 percent for 2017.

Sources from the Spanish Ministry of Economy reported that these new figures will be sent to Brussels which has been asking for more efforts to reduce the country's public deficit.

The Spanish government announced on Friday that it would cut spending by two billion euros after missing 2015 deficit target, while the European Commission (EC) and the European Central Bank (ECB) asked for additional measures to reduce the deficit.

The Spanish government's new predictions are 0.8 percent and 1.5 percent higher than the deficit target agreed with the European authorities, while in 2015 the Spanish public deficit stood at 5 percent of GDP, above the deficit target of 4.2 percent.

The government has recently revised down its predictions for the Spanish economic growth to 2.7 percent for 2016 from a previously-predicted 3 percent and to 2.4 percent for 2017 from a previously forecasted 2.9 percent. Enditem