Debt crisis: Spain unveils emergency Budget Ministers emerged from a six-hour cabinet meeting in Madrid with their fifth austerity package in a year that outlined tax rises and spending cuts designed to reduce the deficit to 4.5pc of GDP next year, down from the 6.3pc target for this year. They unveiled a new tax on the national lottery an 8.9pc cut in the budget for government ministries, and a new Fiscal Council tasked with driving through the structural reforms demanded by Brussels. The budget included a pledge to enact 43 laws to bring about structural reforms in the next six months - an apparent bid to mitigate the need for tough austerity measures if Spain does request a formal bail-out. "This is a crisis budget aimed at emerging from the crisis," Soraya Saenz de Santamaria, deputy prime minister told reporters. In this budget there is a larger adjustment of spending than revenue. Olli Rehn, European Union Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner, said: "The reforms are clearly targeted at some of the most pressing policy challenges." Spain faces more woe on Friday with the results of its bank stress tests. European stockmarkets closed largely flat on the day. The euro sank to a two-week low. Traders also fretted over Francois Hollande's first Budget, expected to be the toughest in 30 years.