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MADRID The Spanish government will focus more on spending cuts than tax hikes with its 2013 budget, said Spain’s Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Santamaria de Saenz on Thursday. She said social spending will account for 63.5% of the budget, and also that pensions and grants will rise. The government also said it plans to tap 3 billion euros from its pension reserves to cover some needs of the treasury, media reports said. Saenz also said the government will set up an independent budgetary authority, which will in part monitor regional government spending. Cristobol Montoro Romero, budget minister, said Spain will [...]

The government is selling its stakes in 12 small U.S. banks bailed out during the 2008 financial crisis. The Treasury Department says the auctions of preferred stock will start Monday and go through Thursday. The government lent $ 415 billion to financial institutions and automakers under the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP. Roughly $ 245 billion went to 707 small banks. The 12 banks received a total $ 324 million. The government has received about $ 344 billion so far from bailed-out institutions. It still owns stakes in 325 banks. The 12 banks are CBS Banc-Corp., Commonwealth Bancshares Inc., [...]

– The federal government deficit through June is an estimated $ 905 billion after a 5% revenue increase and a 1% outlay rise compared to the same period last year, the Congressional Budget Office estimated Monday. In the prior year’s nine months of the fiscal year, the federal government ran a $ 971 billion deficit. The largest gain in revenue came from a 31% jump in corporate income taxes, mostly because of a change in the rule on how quickly firms may deduct the cost of investments in equipment. 2012 MarketWatch, Inc. Print Email Share Comments [...]