Mr. Rajoy has blamed the nation's indebted regions for two-thirds of last year's fiscal shortfall that has forced Spain to miss budget-balancing targets it had agreed to under its euro zone obligations.
The deal calls for Greece to reduce its primary budget deficit to 1 percent of gross domestic product by the end of this year, and for an additional $14.5 billion, or 5 percent of gross domestic product, in new spending cuts or tax increases over the next two years, because a deepening recession has caused Greece to miss budget-deficit targets.
Although this one is a bit more niche, it's about the missing budget cameos.
B1 NEW YORK/REGION B1-8 New York State Misses Budget Deadline, Again New York's elected officials failed to pass a state budget on time for the 20th year in a row.
Pressure from the IMF has grown as it has become increasingly obvious that whatever measures Athens takes it will still face a financial shortfall following months of delays and missed budget targets.
The result is a black eye for Cherokee Investment Partners, a North Carolina company with the majority investment in EnCap Golf Holdings, the development company, which repeatedly missed budget deadlines because the cost of cleaning the landfills had skyrocketed.
Mr. Schwarzenegger seemed unbowed by the criticism, saying on Wednesday that the state was "in much better shape than the United States" and noting that other states had missed budget deadlines, too.
His officials whisper that default is looming.After merging this year's missed budget targets with those of 2012 "to correct slippage", as he puts it, Mr Venizelos hopes to achieve a fiscal tightening of €7.1 billion next year, and to rack up a primary budget surplus (ie, before interest payments) of €3.2 billion.
Later, in a sign of embarrassment at the record of 20 missed budget deadlines, a committee of lawmakers from both parties and both houses met and announced an agreement on a set of measures to address the late budget cycle, including moving the start of the state fiscal year back to May 1 from April 1.
Officials from the EU and IMF, who cut short a visit to Greece in a row over missed budget targets, return to Athens on Thursday as the debt-stricken country races against the clock to secure the crucial aid needed to avert bankruptcy.
