Despite Public Protests, Spain's 2013 Budget Plan Includes More Austerity Andrea Comas/Reuters A closed business in Madrid. MADRID - The Spanish government on Thursday presented a draft budget for 2013 with a package of tax increases and spending cuts that it said would guarantee the country could meet deficit-cutting targets agreed to with the rest of the euro zone. Dominique Faget/Agence France-Presse - Getty Images From left, Luis de Guindos, Spain's economy minister; Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, deputy prime minister; and Cristóbal Montoro, treasury minister at a news conference on Thursday. Because the Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's Popular Party controls Parliament, the budget is expected to be adopted within the next few weeks. But with current austerity measures already prompting street demonstrations amid high unemployment and a recession, there is little likelihood that the new budget will do anything to calm a restive public. Facing down independent-minded Catalonia, the central government warned Thursday that it would fight any breakaway attempt by the region, the most economically powerful among Spain's 17 semiautonomous regions. Artur Mas, Catalonia's leader, called this week for regional elections in November and suggested that Catalan citizens had the right to decide whether they wanted to secede from Spain. Spain's deputy prime minister, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, said Thursday that there were legal and constitutional provisions to forbid a region from holding a referendum and that "this government is ready to use them." The 2013 budget plan released Thursday is meant to help carry out a sweeping long-term austerity package outlined by Mr. Rajoy in July, which is aimed at reducing the central government's budget deficit by 65 billion euros, or $84 billion, over two and a half years. The plan involves an average cut of almost 9 percent in the spending of each government ministry next year. The salaries of civil servants will be frozen for a third consecutive year. In a specific gesture toward older people and one made to maintain one of Mr. Rajoy's pledges, the 2013 budget includes a 1 percent increase in pension payments. Several economists, however, have suggested that Madrid would eventually need to cut pension payments to stick to its budgetary targets. As expected, the new measures would include removing a tax break for home purchases. In a surprise move, the budget proposal calls for raising the tax on lottery winnings - though it is not a move that would affect many people in a significant way. In total, the government said the tax measures would increase revenue by 4.4 billion euros next year. Cristóbal Montoro, the budget minister, said the new budget would "prolong our effort to clean up public finances." He added: "We are making an effort that is shared among many citizens and this is the way, even if it is not short, to get out of this crisis and erase the doubts over Spain." Mr. Montoro said the 2013 budget guaranteed that Spain would meet a pledge to the rest of the euro zone to cut its deficit to 4.5 percent of gross domestic product next year, from a target of 6.3 percent this year. Trying to keep that pledge to Europe amid a deepening recession, however, has already led Mr. Rajoy to backtrack on some campaign promises, including an increase in the value-added tax to 21 percent from 18 percent that went into effect on Sept. That move helped spur the street protests against the government in recent weeks. Hewing to the fiscal discipline demanded by other euro zone leaders could prove crucial to the Rajoy government, if it eventually wants to tap the new bond-buying program the European Central Bank announced this month. That program is meant to help reduce the borrowing costs of beleaguered euro zone members like Spain - if the governments choose to ask for the help. While that would help ease Spain's debt financing problems, Mr. Rajoy is concerned that the aid would be accompanied by demands for more austerity measures. Luis de Guindos, the economy minister, said Thursday that the government was still analyzing the program and noted that Spain had managed so far to continue to finance itself on the debt markets. But Spain faces debt refinancing needs of 38.6 billion euros next year, according to the draft budget presented Thursday. That is almost 10 billion euros more than what was budgeted for 2012, underscoring the extent to which Madrid has struggled to contain its borrowing costs.