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                   Europe Hands 6 Nations a Deficit Reprieve

   Europe is giving six of its financially struggling countries, including
   the major economies in France and Spain, more time to control the
   deficit spending of their governments.
   Austerity, calling for cuts in spending and increased taxes,
   has been the dominant prescription in the last two years for European
   countries looking to rein in budget shortfalls. But with unemployment
   surging and the continent mired in an 18-month recession, the European
   Union on Wednesday softened its demands.
   The EU granted the Netherlands and Portugal an extra year to cut their
   deficits below the mandated level of 3 percent of their economic
   output. France, Spain, Poland and Slovenia were given an additional two
   years to meet the same standard.
   Meanwhile, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
   said the economic weakness in the 17-nation euro currency union "could
   evolve into stagnation with negative implications for the global
   economy."
   The Paris-based OECD, which promotes global economic well-being, said
   eurozone growth will shrink six-tenths of a percent this year, on top
   of a half-percentage point drop last year. Six months ago, the group
   predicted a smaller contraction, and a year ago said the eurozone
   economy would advance in 2013.
   The OECD predicted 3.1 percent global growth this year, increasing to 4
   percent next year.
   But the OECD`s secretary general, Angel Gurria, said unemployment
   across the world remains a major problem.
   "The failure of the global economy to recover more strongly has posed a
   heavy burden on people. Unemployment remains far too high, In some
   countries it`s already at record levels, and still rising in the case
   of the euro area. It`s still rising, it went through the 12 per cent
   mark and moving up. The jobless, particularly youth and (the) less
   skilled, risk losing contact with the labor market and dropping out of
   the labor force all together. Even when activity eventually picks up,
   they will have been out of the market for so long that it will not be
   easy for them to hook up again."
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/europe-hands-6-nations-a-deficit-repr
   ieve/1670841.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/europe-hands-6-nations-a-deficit-reprieve/1670841.html