Spain to fall short of 2012 deficit target: EU

MADRID, Jan 22 (Xinhua) -- Spain will not fulfill its 2012 deficit target of 6.3 percent of GDP (excluding baking financial assistance), said the European Commission on Tuesday in a report.

It said the 1.5-percent deficit target of Spain's autonomous communities is still obtainable, by some, but not all of the regions.

One region that will miss its target is Catalonia, whose regional government announced on Tuesday that its deficit reached 2.3 percent of GDP in December, 0.8 percent over the required 1.5 percent.

Meanwhile, the EU said they will not ask Spain to make additional spending cuts to help reduce the deficit in 2013.

The EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said the bloc would consider whether or not it would allow Spain more time to reduce the deficit after EU economic forecasts are published on February 22.

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