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FACTBOX-Austerity measures around the euro zone

July 1 | Thu Jul 1, 2010 9:50pm IST

July 1 (Reuters) - Here are some of the austerity measures implemented by governments in the euro zone:

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For a graphic on European austerity measures, click on:

here

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* GREECE:

-- Greece approved a pension reform bill after agreeing with the European Union and the International Monetary Fund a set of austerity measures aimed at pulling it out of a debt crisis.

-- It plans to narrow its budget shortfall from 13.6 percent of GDP in 2009 to 8.1 percent this year, 7.6 percent in 2011 and 2.6 percent in 2014.

-- Measures include a public sector pay freeze until 2014. Christmas, Easter and summer holiday bonuses, also known as 13th and 14th month salaries, are abolished for civil servants earning above 3,000 euros a month and are capped at 1,000 euros for those earning less.

-- Public sector allowances are cut by an additional 8 percent. These allowances were cut by 12 percent under a round of austerity measures announced in March.

-- The government has said it will freeze pensions in 2010, 2011 and 2012. The retirement age for women will be raised by 5 years to 65 to match that of men.

-- The main VAT rate was increased by 2 percentage points to 23 percent. In March it had grown to 21 percent from 19 percent.

-- Excise taxes on fuel, cigarettes and alcohol are increased by a further 10 percent.

* SPAIN:

-- Spain's parliament has ratified labour reforms aimed at reviving the euro zone's No. 4 economy. The vote triggers a process that converts the reform plan into a bill which can be debated and amended by lawmakers. The process can take a year.

-- Economists said labour reform was a vital step to restoring long-term economic growth by easing the cost of hiring and firing, amongst the most expensive in the developed world, and making Spain's manufacturing industry more competitive.

-- The government in May announced fresh spending cuts totalling 15 billion euros in 2010 and 2011. Civil service salaries will be cut by 5 percent in 2010 and frozen in 2011. More than 6 billion euros will be cut from public investment.

-- Spain's deficit targets are 9.3 percent of GDP in 2010 and 6 percent in 2011, compared to 11.2 percent in 2009.

-- The cuts include the suspension of yearly pension increases in 2011, except in the case of non-contributory and minimum pension payments. A 2,500 euros payment for birth of babies will be scrapped from Jan 1, 2011 and early retirement becomes more difficult. The government forecasts an additional 1.2 billion euros savings from regional and local governments.

* FRANCE:

-- France plans to raise the retirement age to 62 from 60 by 2018, make people work longer for a full pension and raise public sector contributions to private sector levels.

-- The top rate of income tax will be raised to 41 percent from 40 percent to help fund the pension regime. Taxes on capital gains and investment income will also rise by a point.

-- President Nicolas Sarkozy hopes the reform will convince investors he is serious about cleaning up state finances, which are set to register record deficit and debt levels in 2010.

-- France has said it will freeze all spending, except pensions and interest payments on government debt, between 2011-2013 and cut state operating costs by 10 percent over that period. Sarkozy says this does not amount to an austerity plan.

-- The government has also announced a 100 billion euro savings drive in coming years and plans to find an additional 10 billion euros in deficit-cutting measures over three years.

-- The government hopes to make more use of the Internet and around 1,700 public buildings will be sold off. Total office space will be cut by more than 500,000 m2 in three years.

-- State intervention spending such as subsidies and social support will be cut by 10 percent. The government aims to reduce or eliminate tax exemptions by up to 10 billion euros next year.

* PORTUGAL:

-- Portugal's parliament approved the government's austerity package in June to speed up a reduction in the budget deficit to 7.3 percent of GDP in 2010 and 4.6 percent in 2011, from 9.4 percent in 2009. It will raise income and value-added taxes and cut the wages of some top-paid civil servants.

-- Portugal ruled out drawing on the euro zone aid package, citing a successful bond sale and economic recovery in Q1.

-- Prime Minister Jose Socrates and opposition leader Pedro Passos Coelho drew up steps in June to slash the budget deficit, including 5 percent pay cuts for senior public sector staff and politicians, and increases in VAT sales tax, income tax and profits tax up to 2.5 percent. The government said it aims to save 2 billion euros in 2010.

* GERMANY:

-- Chancellor Angela Merkel said her government aims to save around 80 billion euros between 2011 and 2014 and get the German budget deficit below European Union limits by 2013.

-- The cabinet agreed a package in June which will slash welfare spending by 30 billion euros over the period, cut public sector payrolls by up to 15,000 by 2014 and raise new taxes on nuclear power plant operators and air travel.

-- The government also hopes to realise some 5.5 billion euros through subsidy cuts and raise 2 billion euros per year with a financial transaction tax. It is considering cutting the armed forces by 40,000.

* ITALY:

-- In May, Italy approved a 24-billion-euro deficit cut and measures such as delaying retirement dates by between three and six months, a state salary freeze and cuts to the pay of high public sector earners.

-- Regional and local governments will be pressed to contribute some 13 billion euros of spending cuts in 2011-2012, almost inevitably affecting schools and hospitals.

-- Although Italy kept its budget deficit down to 5.3 percent of GDP last year, well below the EU average, the budget aims to slash it to 2.7 percent by 2012.

-- There will be a 10 percent cut per year in 2011 and 2012 in spending by all government ministries. Provincial governments with less than 220,000 inhabitants will be abolished.

-- Abolition of publicly funded think-tanks, including ISAE, which conducts Italy's consumer and business confidence surveys. ISAE's tasks will pass to the economy ministry.

* IRELAND:

-- Ireland's public sector unions passed a pay deal in June, boosting government chances of pushing through further savings in the budget for 2011.

-- Ireland has carried out some of the harshest austerity measures in the euro zone, cutting public service salaries by 5-15 percent in a 2010 budget that inflicted 4 billion euros' worth of cuts.

-- The government has promised no further public sector pay cuts until 2014, looking for savings through public sector reform while trade union leaders agreed to try to prevent strikes and protests.

-- The budget for 2010 presented in December projected a deficit of 11.6 percent of gross domestic product.

-- Fiscal reform so far: three austerity budgets presented, in Oct. 2008, April 2009 and Dec. 2010, with the first two focused on tax rises. December's budget for 2010 delivered spending cuts of 4 billion euros, including a cut in public sector pay. (Writing by David Cutler, London Editorial Reference Unit;)

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