German minister hails approval of Spanish austerity measures

German Economy Minister Rainer Bruederle hailed Thursday Spanish approval of “severe” austerity measures and said Germany would follow the same path.

“We must salute the adoption of severe austerity measures by Spain,” Bruederle said in a statement.

“We can only achieve durable stability of the euro if each eurozone member contributes to structural measures,” he added.

“A sustainable consolidation of the budget is a decisive tool in this area. Germany will not be an exception,” the finance minister pledged.

“Consolidation measures that we are going to discuss in depth next week will be rigorous and effective,” Bruederle said.

Spanish lawmakers narrowly approved on Thursday an unpopular austerity plan worth 15 billion euros (18 billion dollars) that aims to speed up a reduction of the public deficit.

Many countries across the 16-nation eurozone have now said they will take steps to reduce swollen public deficits and pay down massive debt.