Spain to sell stakes in airport authority and lottery

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Spain has announced plans to sell off stakes in the country's airport authority and national lottery as part of moves to improve public finances.

Companies will be allowed to take a stake of up to 49% in the Aena airport authority, the government said.

The state lottery will also see a 30% stake sold off, and a special payment for the long-term unemployed is to end.

Spain's budget deficit hit 11.1% of GDP last year, and the government has pledged to cut it to 6% in 2011.

'Reform agenda'

Aena manages 47 Spanish airports, including Madrid Barajas Airport and Barcelona Airport, the two largest.

It also has a 10% stake in London Luton Airport in the UK.

Spain's state lottery made a net profit of 2.99bn euros ($3.9bn; £2.5bn) in 2009, 3.5% higher than a year before, despite the country's economic woes.

The Spanish government also announced that it would cut taxes for small and medium-sized companies.

A European Union spokesman said Brussels welcomed the announcements.

He added: "They confirm the government's determination to continue with its reform agenda."

In addition to cutting its public deficit, the Spanish government is having to deal with a 20% unemployment rate - the highest in the European Union.

To try to reduce this, it is liberalising labour laws to make its job market more flexible.