(Repeats story published late on Thursday)
Oct 7 (Reuters) - Here are some details on austerity
measures in non-eurozone countries around Europe:
* UNITED KINGDOM:
-- The Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition plans to
reduce spending in most departments by a quarter as it tackles a
budget deficit totalling 11 percent of national output, a pledge
that has prompted strong opposition from trade unions.
-- Finance minister George Osborne is due to unveil
reductions of around 25 percent across most state departments on
Oct. 20 to tackle a budget deficit of around 11 percent of gross
domestic product.
-- Millions of British public sector workers should pay more
into pensions to ease the pressure on public finances, a review
by former Labour cabinet minister John Hutton to examine the
pension system, revealed on Thursday.
-- The potential changes are a flash point with trades
unions, already angered at a two-year wage freeze for millions
of teachers, nurses and other public sector workers and the
likely loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs as a result of the
spending cuts to be detailed on Oct. 20.
-- Britain had announced on July 5 it would cancel 1.5
billion pounds ($2.3 billion) of spending commitments deemed
"not affordable" in its drive to reduce a record budget deficit.
-- Osborne in June promised to bring a record budget deficit
of 11 percent of GDP down to 1 percent in 5 years, in the
harshest budget in a generation. He announced a rise in VAT
sales tax to 20 percent from 17.5 from January 2011, and a new 2
billion pound levy on banks.
-- The government is also to accelerate an increase in the
state pension age to 66 from 65 years.
* ROMANIA:
-- Romania is slashing public spending and has raised value
added tax to secure more international aid for its recession-hit
economy.
-- On Wednesday, the recession-hit country's top court
endorsed the government's planned overhaul of the outdated
pension system, a key plank of austerity measures designed to
keep a 20 billion euro, IMF-led bailout on track.
-- Romania, the EU's second poorest member state, and the
IMF have also agreed to ease the fiscal deficit target to 6.8
percent of gross domestic product this year from the previous
goal of 5.9 percent.
-- Romania's centrist coalition government, led by Prime
Minister Emil Boc, has pushed through cuts of 25 percent in
public sector wages. The IMF has said cost cuts will probably
lead to the loss of 250,000 jobs in the state sector over a
number of years.
-- Boc's government was forced to raise value added tax by 5
percentage points to 24 percent from the start of July after its
proposed cuts to pensions were declared illegal.
For more details please click on []
* BULGARIA:
-- Bulgaria late last month approved a 2011 budget draft
which aimed to keep rising social discontent at bay by avoiding
new spending cuts and relied on optimistic growth targets to
slash its fiscal deficit.
-- The centre-right government of Prime Minister Boiko
Borisov, has delayed much needed reforms to avert rising public
discontent.
-- On Wednesday, the cabinet withdrew its draft bill that
aimed to progressively increase the number of years people had
to work before drawing a full pension and limit early retirement
for miners, teachers, police and army officers.
* CZECH REPUBLIC:
-- The Czech government approved the 2011 central state
budget draft last month, proposing wage and spending cuts to
narrow the budget deficit in the environment of a mild economic
recovery.
-- The government agreed to cut the overall public sector
deficit to 4.6 percent of GDP in 2011 from around 5.3 percent in
2010.
Main savings measures for 2011 include:
-- A 10 percent across-the-board cut in most operating
spending, including the sum for state workers' wages, excluding
teachers. This should bring 31 billion crowns ($1.61 billion).
-- Trim wages of senior public officials and lawmakers.
-- Reduce the annual state subsidy on housing construction
savings by half to 1,500 crowns per person per year.
-- Cut social benefits, reduce maternity leave pay and
tighten unemployment benefits.
-- Extend tax hikes planned originally for 2010 only.
* DENMARK:
-- The centre-right minority government plans to save $4
billion over the next three years to bring Denmark back within
the EU's deficit limit of 3 percent of gross domestic product.
-- It expects nil growth in public expenditure in 2010 and
0.6 percent growth in 2011. It forecasts a public sector deficit
of 4.6 percent of GDP for 2010 and 4.4 percent in 2011.
* ICELAND:
-- Iceland adopted an austerity plan in 2009 to restore
public finances in accordance with line with a $2.1 billion
International Monetary Fund aid scheme.
-- The plan is expected to close a 170 billion Icelandic
crown budget gap in the coming years. Iceland has pledged to
reach a primary surplus by 2011 and an overall surplus by 2013.
* POLAND:
-- Poland's economy is in better shape than most of its
peers, but the centre-right government agreed steps in August to
tame a budget deficit expected to hit nearly 7 percent of GDP in
2010. They include a cap on discretionary budget spending,
including public service salaries, more selloffs of state assets
and a 1 point hike in value-added tax, bringing the basic rate
to 23 percent.
* LATVIA:
-- Latvia in 2008 and 2009 made spending cuts and tax rises
equal to 11 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) and aimed to
keep its budget deficit this year at 8.5 percent of GDP.
-- In the first wave of measures, the government cut public
sector salaries by up to 50 percent and reduced old age
pensions, but the country's top court later overturned the
pension cut decision.
-- Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis, whose party won an
election on Oct. 2 and who is set to lead a majority coalition
government, has said he wants to carry on taking austerity
measures as planned under a 2008 7.5 billion euro bailout led by
the International Monetary Fund and the European Union.
Austerity measures are aimed at:
-- Reducing the budget deficit to 6 percent of GDP in 2011
and to 3 percent of GDP in 2012.
-- The government and central bank hope such measures will
allow Latvia to qualify for euro entry in 2014.
* LITHUANIA:
-- Lithuania in 2009 and 2010 took budget consolidation
measures, including spending cuts and tax rises, worth about 10
percent of gross domestic product (GDP).
-- Government says it has cut public sector wages by average
12 percent, while some gone down by 30 percent. Old age pensions
were cut by average 5 percent.
-- This summer the parliament extended freeze on public
sector wage rises beyond 2010, and cut parental leave benefits,
but failed to approve hike in retirement age.
-- Value added tax (VAT) rate was raised to 21 percent from
18 percent in 2009, and majority of VAT tax breaks were
scrapped, except on central heating and books.
Austerity measures are aimed at:
-- Reducing the budget deficit to 5.8 percent of GDP in 2011
and to 3 percent of GDP in 2012.
-- The government hopes such measures will help to stabilise
public sector debt at about 40 percent of GDP and will allow
Lithuania to qualify for euro entry in 2014.
(Writing by David Cutler, London Editorial Reference Unit;)
