Nov 18 (Reuters) - A euro zone debt crisis triggered by Greece has forced European governments to take action to tackle high public debt levels.
Here are details of some austerity measures around the euro zone:
* GREECE:
-- Greece pledged on Thursday to raise VAT, freeze pensions and cut government waste further in 2011 to meet the terms of an EU/IMF bailout after admitting it would miss this year's targets.
-- The deficit will shrink by 5.1 billion euros in 2011 to 16.8 billion euros, or 7.4 percent of gross domestic product, back in line with the terms of the bailout deal, it said, after fiscal slippages and a deeper-than-expected recession derailed this year's efforts.
-- The new cuts are bigger than the initially planned 2.2 billion euro deficit reduction targeted in last month's first budget draft. The 2010 deficit will amount to 9.4 percent of GDP compared with a bailout plan target of about 8 percent of GDP.
Some measures revealed on Thursday include:
-- An increase in the lower VAT rates to 13 percent from 11 percent and to 6.5 percent from 5.5 percent, along with a levy on large profitable firms.
-- Cuts in government operating costs and a nominal pension freeze.
-- Significant cuts in operational and wage costs of loss-making public utilities, in health costs, defence spending. The health ministry has said it plans extra spending cuts worth 840 million euros in 2011.
* IRELAND: -- A joint mission of the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund began talks on Thursday with the central bank and the finance ministry on a possible rescue package for Ireland.
-- Finance Minister Brian Lenihan, however, insisted the IMF and EU would not have any input into Ireland's budgetary measures, even though EU rules stipulate that any emergency lending can only be granted to a government that signs a strict fiscal conditionality agreement.
-- Ireland said on Nov. 4 it would push through spending cuts and tax hikes totalling 6 billion euros in 2011 to get its budget deficit under control by a deadline of 2014.
-- Lenihan said he expected next year's adjustment, which will be weighted more on the spending side, would cut the deficit to 9.25-9.5 percent of GDP in 2011 and to 2.75-3 percent of GDP in 2014, the deadline he has agreed with Brussels to get the shortfall under control.
-- The budget deficit is set to blow out to 32 percent of GDP in 2010 due to the one-off inclusion of a mammoth bill for bailing out Ireland's banks. Excluding the bank bill, the deficit will be nearly 12 percent of GDP this year. -- Fitch cut Ireland's credit rating last month and consumer morale slumped as the cost of cleaning up its banks hit home, piling pressure on the government to bring forward the 2011 budget, the toughest on record, due on Dec 7.
* FRANCE:
-- France's Constitutional Council approved President Nicolas Sarkozy's pension bill on Nov. 9, clearing the last hurdle to a reform that will raise the retirement age by two years to stem a huge pension deficit.
-- The law will raise the retirement age to 62 from 60 by 2018, making people work longer for a full pension, and will raise public sector contributions to private sector levels. The reform will also raise the eligible age to receive a full pension to 67 from 65.
-- The budget aims to cut the public deficit to 6 percent of gross domestic product in 2011 from an estimated 7.7 percent in 2010, in the first phase of a plan to trim the shortfall to the EU's 3 percent ceiling in 2013, and 2 percent in 2014.
The budget envisages:
-- Raising the top marginal rate of tax to 41 percent from 40 percent to fund pension reforms.
-- Raising the tax on capital gains by one percentage point.
-- The end of a one-off corporate tax break in 2010 will increase revenues by 5.3 billion euros.
-- The government aims to raise some 400 million euros from the sale of property in 2011.
-- The end of fiscal stimulus measures will cut 8.2 billion euros from the deficit.
* PORTUGAL:
-- Portugal's parliament on Nov. 3 approved the general guidelines of the budget bill, clearing another hurdle for a fiscal programme that aims to sharply cut the deficit.
-- Portugal has promised to cut this year's budget deficit to 7.3 percent of gross domestic product from 9.3 percent last year and further reduce it to 4.6 percent in 2011.
Here are some of the measures:
-- Cuts of 5 percent in civil servant wages and increases in taxes in an effort to save 5.1 billion euros ($6.93 billion) next year.
-- On the revenue side, the measures would add 1.7 billion euros to state coffers, or one percentage point of gross domestic product. They include:
-- Value-added tax to be raised by 2 percentage points for top level to 23 percent from 21 percent, expanding on a 1 percentage point increase on all levels implemented in July.
* SPAIN:
-- Spain revealed full details of its 2011 budget on Oct. 7 before parliament, including its estimates for bond issuance in 2011. Announced measures include:
-- Public spending, excluding autonomous regions, to be cut by 7.9 percent to 122 billion euros ($165.7 billion) in 2011.
-- Income tax rate on those earning more than 120,000 euros rises to 22.5 pct from 21.5 pct. Government hopes to raise 170-200 million euros from tax hike on high earners.
-- Forecasts additional 1.2 billion euros savings from regional and local governments.
* ITALY:
-- Although Italy kept its budget deficit down to 5.3 percent of GDP in 2009, well below the EU average, the budget aims to cut the deficit to 2.7 percent by 2012.
Measures include:
-- Delaying retirement dates by three to six months, a state salary freeze and pay cuts for high public sector earners.
-- Regional and local governments will be pressed to contribute some 13 billion euros of spending cuts in 2011-2012.
-- There will be a 10 percent cut per year in 2011 and 2012 in spending by all government ministries.
* GERMANY:
-- Chancellor Angela Merkel said her government aims to save around 80 billion euros between 2011 and 2014 and get the German budget deficit below European Union limits by 2013. The cabinet backed a bill covering the bulk of the 80 billion euro ($101 programme over the next four years on Sept. 1.
-- The budget, due before parliament by the end of November, will cut spending to 307.4 billion euros in 2011, a 3.8 percent decrease from 2010, and reduce the deficit to 60 billion.