Austrian FinMin expects EU complaint over budget

Austrian Finance Minister Michael Spindelegger said Friday he was expecting a complaint from the EU as Austria aimed for a structural zero deficit in 2016 rather than next year. In an interview with Der Standard newspaper, Spindelegger said the European Commission could "make an example" of Austria on the issue. He said possible measures taken against his country could range "from a complaint all the way to financial penalties," which would equal to a 0.2-percent of GDP or 850 million U.S. dollars. Spindelegger added he hoped to avoid the scenario, however he was against any "softening of the EU requirements" and figure fudging. The central European nation has over 320 billion dollars in public debt, and an additional estimated 23.5 billion dollars in costs expected to come from the bankruptcy of troubled bank Hypo Alpe Adria. Spindelegger said along with the structural deficit, the government was aiming to bring public debt down to 75 percent from 79 percent of GDP by 2016. This would include over 1.1 billion dollars in government spending cuts.