MADRID – The fight against fraud is to be one of the new Socialist government’s main priorities, the Treasury minister said Monday.

Pedro Solbes claimed the previous government did not pay enough attention to tackling fraud.

In an interview with radio station Cadena Ser, Solbes said: “There is a lot of room to do things.”

He added that in a complex society like Spain, fighting fraud needed to be done with the help of technology.

Solbes said that he had started his new professional role as a minister with “enthusiasm”.

He said he had asked for a report from his team to show how much money was available to complete the Socialists’ electoral promises within the present economic situation.

Solbes referred to some important problems which “will have to be resolved”.

Among major problems, Solbes said the government must address the debt of the state-run RTVE television channel. The debt stands at EUR 6.8 billion.

Asked about the effect of the entry of ten new countries to the European Union on 1 May, Solbes said it would bring more competition and globalisation.

“To have salaries which are higher, we have to be more competitive, productive and efficient,” he said.

But at the same time, Spaniards could not forget the needs of the new countries which “have less than us”.

[Copyright EFE with Expatica]

Subject: Spanish news