Spain to extend jobless benefits, sees productivity pact
Spain's Socialist government plans to extend benefits for the unemployed as a result of an agreement reached with other left-wing parties, politicians involved in the pact told state radio on Sunday.
By Agencies |
MADRID: Spain's Socialist government plans to extend benefits for the unemployed as a result of an agreement reached with other left-wing parties, politicians involved in the pact told state radio on Sunday.
Currently, only those who have worked and contributed to the social security system are eligible for jobless benefits, and only for a limited period of time. Unemployment is currently running at about 4 million people -- having almost doubled in one year -- and is rising more quickly than in any other major economy.
The new system would seek to extend benefits to those who have not worked previously, as well as to those whose subsidies have run out, and would start in the coming months.
"We plan to implement a fund to reintegrate (the jobless) and to create employment," Gaspar Llamazares, parliamentary spokesman for United Left, told state radio, without specifying financial details. The government does not have a sufficient majority in parliament to pass the legislation without the backing of other parties.
Speaking at a political meeting on Sunday, Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said that in a few weeks he would propose to unions and employers a plan to boost productivity and make the economy more stable. Data last week showed Spain's economy shrank at its worst rate in half a century in the first quarter of 2009, deepening a nine-month recession.
Gross domestic product fell 2.9 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, more than four times a 0.7 percent contraction in the final three months of 2008. Businesses have called for measures to make hiring and firing cheaper and easier, but Zapatero has promised unions he will not implement such moves.
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