Obama praises Zapatero's "courageous measures" facing crisis

US President Barack Obama has welcomed the "courageous" economic measures announced by Spanish Government leader José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero in order to reduce the deficit.

According to the White House''s National Security Council spokesman Michael Hammer, Obama "has welcomed the daring measures announced by Zapatero on Wednesday to help resolve the economic situation of Europe and create confidence in the market".

The US President phoned Zapatero on the eve of the latter''s appearance before Spanish Congress in which he proposed a series of measures to cut public spending.

According to Hammer, "in his call at the start of this week, the (US) President made it clear that the leaders of Spain are the only people who know what''s best for Spain".

Furthermore, the spokesman said that in his call, Obama assured Zapatero that he could "count of his complete support".

In a press statement released on Tuesday informing of the content of the conversation, the White House indicated that during the dialogue Obama and Zapatero, "discussed how important it would be for Spain to adopt these resolute measures as part of European efforts to strengthen its economy and create confidence in the market".

Zapatero announced on Wednesday that in order to cut the public deficit between 2010 and 2011 Spain would be cutting public servants'' salaries by 5%, canceling existing benefits for newborns and suspended talks regarding a possible increase in public pensions.