Spain's austerity measures 'strong': IMF chief

MADRID: The Spanish government's package of austerity policies is strong and moving in the right direction, the head of the International Monetary Fund was quoted as saying in an newspaper interview published on Monday.

"The measures that the Government has been taking are strong and should help recover confidence in the future," IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn told daily ABC.

"The issue now is to see how the measures will be implemented, especially those concerning the labour market." Reforming Spain's rigid labour market, recommended by the IMF and other organisations, is the next task for the government, Strauss-Kahn said.

"The government is now taking measures in this sense and we must wait to see the results of the negotiations between the government, the company sector and the workers," he said.

Asked about mergers between Spain's saving banks, Strauss-Kahn said: "What Spain is doing is absolutely normal, it is a natural consolidation of the banking sector."