Regional governments fight to keep their public companies open

Cristóbal Montoro reiterated yesterday his belief that no more cutbacks are necessary for Spain's public sector. According to a report from the Council on Tax Policy, the regional governments have ceased activity in 91% (477 of 525) of their public companies, committees and foundations -- in line with an agreement the government made.

In reality, only 43.6% have closed and the rest are in the middle of a phasing out process. Further, the agreement indicated that many companies should have been closed by 2011. The public sector reform continues to tarry even though finishing layoffs would save the state 1.5 billion euros annually and cut payrolls by 5,863 jobs. While Montoro rattles on about relaxing the deficit requirement and increasing debt, he is basing his thoughts on cuts that are still pending.